Ali: The Xenomorph Princess
by Ali Wenstern
Summary: Newt wasn't the only survivor to the alien attack on LV-426. A young girl named Ali also survived, but she harbors a dark secret. And Ellen Ripley is about to find out the hard way.
1. Introduction

* * *

_Nine years before the events that takes place in the second Alien movie_

"What do you think it is?" the doctor asked.

"I've never seen anything like it," the second doctor replied.

They were standing over a woman in the early stages of pregnancy lying on a hospital bed. The thing that held the doctors' interest was the specimen on the woman's face. It looked like a fleshy cross between a spider and a hand. It had a long tail which was wrapped tightly around the woman's throat. The thing pulsed, seemingly supplying the woman with air. She had been found near the edge of the colony with the strange thing already on her face.

"Does she live with anyone?"

One of the doctors consulted in some paper work before replying, "No, there is no record that she married. No idea who the father is."

"Should we try to take the thing off?"

"No, it seems to be holding on pretty tight; we could rip her face off."

"What about the baby?"

"I don't think it will survive, even if the mother does."

_

* * *

Nine years later_

"Seal the door and put everything we can in front of it!" a frantic voice shouted from behind the steel door. The sound of scraping filled the air as fifty colonists made their last stand.

"Wait," Ali said. The six aliens around her stopped and stared at her curiously.

Ali was a frail girl of nine years old, but she sounded and acted much older. She had long black hair that came down just past her shoulders and dark blue eyes that sometimes appeared completely black. Her nails were long, black and very sharp. She wore a plan grey shirt, black pants and no shoes. She smiled, and her eyes flashed with excitement. "Wait until they've sealed the door off. I want them to think they're going to survive."

Timothy, the alien that had discovered her, hissed next to her and the other aliens hissed after him in impatient excitement.

After much waiting and eagerness, the noise stopped, and everything went quiet. Ali stepped up to the door and listened closely. The humans had moved away from the door so she could barely pick up the sounds of their breathing and heartbeat through the door.

"Now," Ali said and stepped out of the way. The aliens surged past her and hit the door with all their force. The wind that they stirred up caused Ali's hair to sweep into her face. The barrier wasn't strong enough for the combined force of six full grown Warriors and they easily broke through. The air was filled with the screams of the colonists as the aliens infested. Ali stepped slowly through the torn opening and watched the blood bath. Timothy stepped up next to her, blood dripping down his sharp teeth, and hissed, rubbing against her shoulder lovingly.

Ali grinned darkly and placed her hand on Timothy's smooth, eyeless head. "Underestimating us was their last mistake!"


	2. Discovery and Deception

**A/N- The Queen's name, Aglaia, is Greek for splendor or beauty**

Ali peered through the hole in the wall as the sound of voices grew louder. She hadn't heard the sound of people for a long time and their obnoxious voices bothered her. She heard them shouting and then she heard the sound of a young girl crying out. That meant Newt was still alive. Ali's red lips pulled back in a dark smile as she stepped away from the wall. Newt was the last survivor of the terraforming colony; a group of people who come to an uninhabited planet to make it livable. Ali had never known what the children saw about her that caused them to avoid her; it might have been that her mother died during childbirth or that there was no record that she even had a father. But the aliens had accepted her; they had treated her like one of their own. She had helped the aliens out too; luring the humans into the Hive.

She turned her back from the wall and walked off down the hallway. She laughed softly to herself, the humans had no idea what they had walked into and they would regret it. A hiss to her right alerted her to the alien in the hallway.

"Well Timothy, I guess Newt doesn't have to worry about us anymore," Ali said as the alien joined her at her side, "do you think she will tell on me?" The alien replied with a hiss and shook his head. "Yeah, you're right; she wouldn't even help her own people escape us, why would she want to help strangers? Besides, she's wouldn't want to risk it. She knows what I can do best of all."

Ali thought back on how she had to chase that brat through the air ducts and had almost caught her. But Newt was smaller; apparently she had been the best at playing hide-and-seek in the air ducts.

Ali thought quietly as she and Timothy made their way down toward the processing station where the Queen had made her nest. Ali knew that Newt would be too frightened to warn the soldiers about Ali but she still didn't want to risk it. She had to find a way to get the soldiers to think she was a victim too and hope that Newt's fear would keep her from speaking out.

As they walked, the walls that had once been smooth metal began turning into a hard black coating of resin that looked similar to the inside of an insect. The air also became hot and dry as Ali and Timothy reached the outer layer of the Hive. Bodies of the colonists littered the walls, the majority of them with open cavities in their chests where an alien had already been born.

Ali bowed in front of an alien that was much larger than the others and had a large crest on top of its head. "Aglaia?"

The Queen shuddered slightly and her head came forward out of her crest. _What is your report?_ the motherly voice of Aglaia flowed through Ali's mind like cool water.

"There are a group of humans, soldiers by the look of them, that have just arrived," Ali said. The air was filled with hisses from the aliens. "They found Newt," Ali added.

_The human child that escaped you?_ Aglaia asked.

"Yes," Ali answered.

_No matter, she will not be a problem,_ Aglaia said, _What we need to worry about now is what we are to do with these new intruders._

"I was thinking that I could revel myself to them," Ali said.

_That is a good idea. But you are not exactly equipped with the skill of acting human. Was there ever an occasion where you acted remotely human?_ There was a hint of amusement in Aglaia's voice.

"I've been around humans enough to know how to act around them," Ali replied.

_It is acceptable, if you think you can do it. How will you approach them? _ Aglaia asked.

"They will come here," Ali said.

_Why do you think that?_

"Because, every colonist has a Personal-Data Transmitter implanted in them. The soldiers might try looking for them that way," Ali said.

_Do you have one of these trackers too?_

"Yes,"

_So when they come here, looking for the colonists, you will reveal yourself?_

"Yes, and I need to be like them," Ali said, pointing toward a cocooned colonist.

Timothy hissed his disapproval and Aglaia asked, _Why?_

"Because the humans will think it strange if I am just hanging out in the Hive, they would question me on why I wasn't trapped. This is the only way to get them to trust me."

_Fine_, Aglaia said reluctantly.

A faint beeping sound was the first thing that warned Ali the humans were close. The second was the sound of careful footsteps. Ali tried to stay as still as possible in the cocoon that incased her. She could hear the ragged breathing of a human nearby and she raised her head slowly.

"There's a live one!" Ali heard the human near her shout. The sound of more footsteps told her that the rest were running up.

"We got another one over here!" a different human proclaimed. The rest of the soldiers ran over to another human while one remained with Ali.

"I'm going to get you out of here," the soldier said. Ali pretended to be scared and even managed to get two tears to fall down her cheeks. As the soldier began pulling at the resin that kept her suspended in the air, Ali studied her rescuer. He was an attractive man with short brown hair and hazel eyes. She couldn't see much more of his features due to the helmet he was wearing. As he pulled the resin off, Ali fell forward and he caught her quickly.

"She's going into convulsions!" Ali heard a man shout. She looked around quickly to see that the human who was still alive had begun thrashing around and screaming. Ali had to hold back a grin at the shocked voices issued from the soldiers. The soldier that had saved her turned her head away from the woman just as the third stage burst forth from her chest.

"Flame thrower!" a deep voice shouted, "Move!"

Ali tensed as she heard the sound of fire billowing out and the dying screech of the third stage. Anger flared up within her and she had to struggle to maintain her frightened appearance.

_Ali, they have killed one of my children. I cannot stand down right now. Protect the human you are with and let my Warriors take care of the rest, _Aglaia's voice was filled with anger which shot through Ali like a knife.

"Hey, hey, we've got movement!" Ali heard a man shouting frantically. He was staring down at an object in his hands that began admitting high pitched beeps.

"What's their status?" another man asked.

"Uh, unknown," the soldier replied, panic edging up in his voice.

"Talk to me Hudson!" the man shouted.

"Uh, it seems to becoming from in front _and _behind," the man named Hudson said.

A scream and then the golden glow of fire filled the air. A soldier was engulfed in flame and he screamed as well. With that, utter panic erupted.

"Let's get the fuck out of here!" a frantic voice shouted.

"Not that way!"

More screams.

The soldier holding Ali turned away, brandishing a fire-arm in his free hand. A Warrior jumped down from above and landed right in front of them. Ali glared at it, careful to make sure the soldier didn't see her, and the Warrior ran past them. Someone cursed and the fire-arms started to go off again.

A figure suddenly appeared behind them and another solider limped forward out of the smoke.

"Hicks!" a man shouted, Ali recognized him as the one named Hudson, and the man holding Ali turned. He hurried over to his comrade and got behind him, pushing him forward.

"Hold on tight, kid," the soldier named Hicks said. Ali tightened her grip around the soldier's neck and held on tight. There were two more soldiers coming up next and fired their weapons into the smoke.

Ali turned her head as a crash came from the front. A huge military vehicle appeared, crashing through the resin coated wall. Hicks ran up to it, dragging Hudson behind him.

"It's blocked, we got to go around," Hudson said as they got nearer and saw the entrance covered in wall and resin debris.

"Drake!" Hicks shouted as he helped Hudson around the front of the vehicle, "We are leaving!"

When they rounded the other side, the door opened and Hicks pushed Hudson inside and jumped in after him. Ali released him and dove underneath a seat. She peeked out from behind to see Hicks pulling in a female soldier. She fired and Ali could hear an alien shriek. She heard the sound of blood sizzling flesh and a man screamed. Fire filled the opening and Ali covered her face.

"Fire in the hole!" Someone shouted.

"Get that out!" Someone else shouted.

"Drake!" the female soldier shouted.

"He's gone!" Hicks shouted.

"No, he's not,"

Hicks slammed the female into the wall. "Forget it, he's gone!"

Hicks started to close the door when clawed hands appeared to stop it. A girl screamed and Ali looked around to see Newt staring wide-eyed at the clawed hand. The female soldier and another man jumped forward to help Hicks close the door. But against their combined force, the door is still being pulled open. An alien head appeared and it opened its mouth. Hicks managed to get his gun free and shot the alien. It got flung backward and sprayed blood onto one of the soldier's arms. He cried out in pain but remained by the door until it was closed and latched.

"Let's go Ripley, let's go!" Hicks shouted and the woman driving pulled back on the throttle, sending the vehicle shooting backwards.

* * *


	3. No Way Off

The vehicle crashed into the wall as Ripley turned the wheel sharply. Some items fell off a shelf and hit one of the soldiers on the head. The man fell down, unconscious. Even when they cleared the building and were out onto the surface of the planet, Ripley kept the vehicle on full throttle. Hicks ran forward and grasped her hands and forced her to ease up on the throttle.

"It's okay…we're clear. Ripley you're going to blow the transaxle, you're just grinding metal. Easy down." He continued repeating the last phrase over and over as the vehicle slowly slowed down.

When the vehicle stopped, Ripley jumped up and looked around. "You okay?" she asked. Ali looked over to see her talking to Newt, the girl gave thumbs up.

Hicks seemed to remember Ali at that point and called out, "Hey kid?" Ali stuck her head out slowly and looked up. Hicks smiled gently and reached down. Ali wrapped her arms around his neck and he pulled her up. "What's your name?"

"Ali," Ali said softly. Newt's head suddenly jerked up and she looked at Ali with fearful eyes.

"Hey, I'm Hicks. Don't worry, you'll be safe with us," Hicks said. Ali nodded and buried her head in his shoulder. She remained there are as he moved to the unconscious man.

"What happed to Gorman?" Ripley asked.

Hicks checked the man. "I don't know, maybe a concussion. He's alive though."

"He's dead!" the female said and grabbed the unconscious Gorman by the collar. "Wake up pendejo! I'm going to kill you!"

"Back off!" Hicks shouted and the woman stepped back.

Ali was vaguely aware of the soldiers discussing if the rest of the soldiers were still alive. She already knew what was happening to them now. She was focused on Newt who had crawled out of her niche and was now looking at Ali in fear. The soldiers and Ripley were too busy to notice the glare Ali sent Newt's way which caused the girl to shrink back in fear.

_Ali?_ Aglaia's voice was weak because of the distance between her and Ali. Ali focused all her attention on Aglaia, tuning out the soldiers and connecting her mind to the Queen.

"_Yes?"_ Ali asked.

_Are you alright?_

"_Yes, I'm fine for now. How many were killed?"_

_At least ten. Timothy has managed to remain free of injury and I asked him to watch you from a safe distance to make sure things run smoothly. He will interfere if he finds you are having trouble._

"_Alright._"

Ali turned her attention back to the conversation. They had made plans to go into orbit and nuke the whole site from space. Ali quickly sent a warning to Aglaia who said she would take care of it.

"Honey, you need to let go for a minute," Hicks said and gently pulled Ali's arms from around his neck. Ali allowed herself to be put down on the ground. She followed Hicks and the rest of the group as they stepped out of the vehicle and onto the windswept planet. They were carrying the unconscious Gorman in a stretcher and set him down not far from the vehicle. The group then gathered at one point and tried to find any sign of the drop-ship that would take them back. Ali saw it first because of her heightened senses and she also could sense the presence of a Warrior. Suddenly, the ship began to lose altitude, nicking a rock formation. The ship then nose-dived and crashed into the ground.

"Run!" Ripley shouted.

She picked up Newt and ran; Ali followed them as they took refuge behind a rock formation. Everyone ran out of the way as well as the ship crashed past them and hit the military vehicle and then tumbled end over end into the station. A huge fireball rose into the air, filling it with black smoke.

"Well that's just great!" Ali heard Hudson shouting, "That's just fucking great. What the fuck are we supposed to do now man?!"

"Are you finished?" Hicks asked. He walked over to where Ali, Newt, and Ripley had take cover. "You okay?" he asked.

Ripley nodded and then turned to Newt. Ali reached up to Hicks and he bent down to pick her up.

"I guess we're going to be here for a while," Ali whispered.

"Yeah, probably. But I promise you that I won't let anything happen to you," Hicks said.


	4. Setting the Trap

Ali sat off by herself while the rest of the group figured out what they could salvage from the crash. From the sound of their voices it wasn't good. She played idly with her hair while the group gathered around a horizontal video screen, catching the end of their conversation.

"…and seal the ducts here…and here. Then they can only come at us through these two corridors," Ripley said.

"And that's where the sentries can go?" Hicks asked, "Outstanding. Now all we need is a deck of cards."

Ali walked up and peeked over the edge of the table and looked at the blueprints. She was standing close next to Newt who was sitting on top of the table and she could feel the little girl tense up next to her. She looked up at Newt and saw the fear in her eyes. Ali flashed a dark glare toward her and Newt looked away quickly.

"All right, let's move like we got a purpose," Hicks said. Ali followed after Hicks and watched as he set up the display screens for the sentries. Over the mike she could hear the woman named Vasquez, and Hudson. Ali then followed Hicks as he helped Ripley seal the air duct and as Newt and the man named Burke gathered food supplies. She watched them carefully; remember the harsh voices they had used when talking to the man named Burke. She hadn't heard exactly what he had said but she could tell that they didn't trust him about something and she wanted to know what it was.

Once the guns had been set up, Ali followed as Ripley carried Newt off into one of the med labs. She watched as Ripley tucked Newt into one of the beds and the two talked, Newt smiling at one point. She turned away, disgusted and attempted to reach out for Aglaia but got no reply. Suddenly, the door to the med lab opened and Ripley walked out. Ali ducked quickly behind some equipment and waited until Ripley had walked by. Ali glanced back and saw that the light was off, and a small space heater was casting an orange glow on Newt's frightened face. Ali then turned around and followed behind Ripley silently.

Ali followed Ripley to a different med lab where the unconscious Gorman was being taken care of by a strange looking man. Hudson and Vasquez were there as well. The group started talking but Ali couldn't hear through the thick, glass door. She eased up slowly and opened the door. They were so immersed in their conversation that they didn't hear or see the door open.

"…Which would mean that there would have to be a lot of these parasites, right? One for each colonist. That's over a hundred at least," Ripley said.

"Yes that follows," the strange looking man said. Ali realized with confusion that the man's body noises were different. There was a slight whirling sound and she couldn't detect a regular heartbeat. She looked at the man closely and noticed that his skin was different too. It hit her suddenly: the man was an android.

"But each one of these things comes from an egg, right? So who's laying the eggs?" Ripley asked

"I'm not sure, it must be something we haven't seen yet," the android said.

"Maybe it's like an ant hive," Hudson said.

"Bees man. Bees have hives," Vasquez said.

"You know what I mean! There's like one female who runs the whole show."

"Yes," the android said, "The Queen."

"Yeah the momma. She's bad ass man, I mean like big," Hudson said holding his pointer and thump an inch apart.

"These aren't ants," Vasquez said.

"I know that!"

"Bishop, I want these specimens destroyed as soon as you're finished with them. Is that clear?" Ripley asked.

"Mr. Burke gave instructions that they be kept alive in stasis for return to company labs," Bishop said. Ali couldn't see Ripley's expression but Bishop added, "He was very specific about it."

Ripley suddenly rushed past Ali and out into the hall. Ali was about to follow when a voice called back to her.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Hudson asked.

Ali turned slowly and stared up at the soldier. "I was looking for Hicks."

"He's up in operations," Vasquez said.

Ali nodded and turned to leave. "What's wrong with Ripley?"

"She is angry at Burke, I think," Bishop said.

Ali nodded again and walked out the door, making her way slowly back up to the operation room. Hicks was sitting there by himself, studying the tactical console. Ali walked up next to him and stood on tip-toe to get a better view. He looked down and picked Ali up, setting her down on his knee. She rested her head on his shoulder and watched the screens with him. Vasquez and Hudson joined them shortly afterward. Suddenly, there was movement from one of the cameras. Hicks jumped forward slightly as an alarm went off. Ripley suddenly ran up and stood behind Hicks.

"They're coming," Hicks said. The distant sound of the guns firing filled the air. "A and B guns, tracking and firing, multiple targets."

"Man, look at those amo counters go," Hudson said. The number of rounds left was decreasing quickly.

"B gun's down fifty percent," Hicks said.

"It's like a shooting gallery down there," Hudson said.

"B gun's dry, 20 on A," Hicks said. The counter blinks critical then stops, "That's it. Jesus, they're wall to wall in there."

A distant booming sound follows shortly after. "They're at the pressure door," Ripley notes.

Ali knew they wouldn't be able to get in through that entrance so she turned her attention away from the screens and walked away just as she heard a voice over the intercom, "Bishop here, I'm afraid I have some bad news."


	5. A Weakness and a Betrayal

Ali wasn't interested in the "bad news" that Bishop had so she stayed behind while the rest went off to the observation window. She sat down in front of the screens and studied the cameras. Instantly, she noticed a weakness; an area that the cameras couldn't see.

"_Aglaia?"_Ali asked.

_Yes?_

"_Have you found a way in yet?"_

_No, those guns are poising quite a problem for us and I can think of no alternative._

"_I think I know a way that you can get in and past the guns. It will also prove useful if they try to seal themselves in someplace like the colonists did last time."_

_Tell me._

Ali finished relaying the information to Aglaia just as another alarm sounded. Hicks ran up behind Ali and studied the cameras.

"They're in the approach corridor," Hicks said into a mic. Ripley's voice replied that she was on her way.

As Ripley came up behind him Hicks said, "C and D guns down fifty percent."

"How many?"

"Can't tell, lots," Hicks replies. Suddenly, D gun blinks critical then stops. Only C gun is left and it ticked down to twenty percent. "Shit!"

"Wait," Ripley said frantically. She was staring at the screen; the gun had stopped at 10 percent, "It stopped them."

"Next time they'll walk up and knock," Hicks said grimly.

"Yeah but they don't know that; they'll be trying to look for other ways in. That will take them a while," Ripley said.

Ali knew the only reason they had retreated at that time was because Aglaia had reached them and told them of the alternate route into the complex. And they would be coming in quicker than Ripley would expect. But for now, she no longer needed to be here. She got up slowly and walked out into the hallway. The halls were empty, no sign that 157 people used to live and work here. She smiled, the silence was welcoming and for the first time in a long time she didn't have to worry about people staring at her strangely. After a couple of minutes she got bored and decided to make her way back to operations. On the way she froze, shocked at the sight in front of her.

The human, Burke, was pushing a cart with the two stasis containers containing the second stages to the door of a med lab. The room was dark and there was a faint orange glow coming from within. Ali was slightly shocked, why would the human _want_ to get other humans impregnated? She realized she didn't really care about the reason; if he was going to turn against the humans then she was going to help him. She stepped forward quickly into Burke's line of sight. Burke froze when he saw Ali and started to stutter an excuse.

"What are you planning on doing with those?" Ali asked.

"Um, well, I—,"

"You do realize that they will try to attack you when you let them out?" Ali asked.

"I wasn't going to," Burke said but Ali could tell from the rhythm of his heart beat that he was lying.

"Let me do it, I know how to handle them."

Burke regarded Ali with a suspicious look. "What do you want?"

"I want to help you," Ali said and she smiled.

"Why?"

"Because I like you, you seem like a nice person," Ali said, "Now get out of here and leave everything to me."

Burke nodded and stepped away from the cart quickly. Ali grabbed it and walked to the door, smiling as she heard Burke's hurried footsteps. The door opened silently and Ali pushed the cart carefully inside. The bed was empty but Ali could hear the sounds of Ripley and Newt breathing deeply. She set the stasis containers down on the ground and pulled the lever that unlocked them. She left the lid on, knowing the second stages would figure out a way to open them when they sensed the presence of the humans. She then left quickly and locked the door from the outside.

_Ali? What are you doing?_ Aglaia's gentle voice was soft in Ali's head. _Why are there second stages with you?_

"_One of the humans turned traitor against the others,"_ Ali said.

_And you want to help him?_

"_Yes,"_ Ali replied.

_Be careful, this might come back to bite your shoulder,_ Aglaia said.


	6. Discovered and Arrival

Ali crawled underneath a table outside the med lab and watched carefully. The two second stages began moving around in their containers, sensing humans nearby. One of them pushed itself up to the top of its container and used two of its legs to push on the lid. The lid started to push open but then fell back down. The second stage now knew that it could get out and it tried again. This time, it used its tail to propel it upwards into the lid. The lid flung open and the container tipped over. The second stage landed on the floor and scuttled off into the darkness. The second stage still in the container repeated the move the first one had done to get free and it soon vanished into the darkness too. Ali smiled and settled down to wait.

It didn't take long for the second stages to track the location of Newt and Ripley. When the first one finally did, Ali felt Ripley move. The sound of Ripley's breathing quickened and Ali guessed that Ripley noticed the empty containers. Newt's breath suddenly quickened too and Ali knew she was awake too. Ali raised her head and caught sight of Ripley's head sticking out of the opposite side of the bed. Suddenly, a second stage jumped forward and Ripley ducked. Ali heard Newt scream and she giggled softly at the sound. Ripley and Newt scrambled out from under the bed and toward the door. Ali ducked behind the table as Ripley tried to get the door open. When she peeked back out, Newt and Ripley were pounding silently on the window, their screams inaudible.

"You can't get help that way," Ali whispered to herself, enjoying the fright in Newt's eyes. Ripley seemed to reach the same conclusion and she started to wave her arms in front of a video camera. She continued waving her hands, trying to get someone's attention but eventually she gave up. Her next attempt was to break the glass and she wacked at it with a chair. But the glass held firm and Ripley dropped the chair a few seconds later.

"What do you plan to do now? Give up?" Ali asked in a normal voice knowing they couldn't hear her even if she shouted. But Ripley seemed to be determined not to give up and she pulled out a small silver object. She moved away from the window carefully and walked up to a sprinkler sensor. She held the silver object near the sprinkler and a yellow flame jumped from the tip. An alarm sounded and water started to pour down in the lab.

Ali covered her ears as the harsh alarm blared. "Very clever Ripley, now you know you'll get a rescue." She was slightly disappointed that they would be found, but she was confident the second stages would already be in place by the time help arrived and it would be too late to save them.

Newt ran up to hang on to Ripley as they awaited a rescue. Suddenly, a second stage jumped out, aiming for Ripley. It hit her in the chest, and she was able to throw it away from her. Ali crawled further from her hiding place to watch as Ripley crawled away from the second stage as fast as she could. The second stage leapt forward at Ripley, but Ripley grabbed at it and held it away from her face as best she could as its tail reached forward to wrap around her neck. At the other end of the lab, Newt was too busy screaming to realize the second stage crawling up behind her.

"Shoot the glass!" A voice behind Ali commanded and she turned slightly to see Hicks and the rest running toward the lab. Hudson fired at the window, causing it to weaken enough for Hicks to jump through. Ali came out of her hiding place now and watched as Hicks and Vasquez attempted to get the second stage off Ripley. Hudson was killing the second stage that had attacked Newt. With Vasquez's and Hicks' combined strength they were able to unwrap the second stage's tail from around Ripley's neck. They threw it into the corner and Hudson shot it.

"Burke!" Ali heard Ripley gasp, "It was Burke!"

* * *

Ripley had changed into dry clothes and Newt was wearing a large jacket. Newt's eyes were somber, the fear gone. Ripley rubbed her throat every now and then. Burke was sitting in a chair and was the focus of everyone's attention, safe for Ali who kept her gaze on Ripley. Because of the threat to Newt and Ripley, no one had noticed that Ali had watched the entire event.

"I say we grease this rat-fuck son of a bitch right now!" Hudson said, aiming a gun at Burke's head.

"This doesn't make any sense," Hicks said.

"He figured that he could get an alien past quarantine if one of us was impregnated, whatever you call it," Ripley said, stepping forward, "Then frozen for the trip home, nobody would know about the embryos we were carrying. Me and Newt."

"Wait a minute, we'd all know about it," Hicks said.

"Yes, the only way he could get away with it is if he sabotaged certain freezers, namely yours," Ripley said looking at Hicks, "then he could jettison the bodies make up any story he liked."

"Fuck, you're dogmeat pal!" Hudson said, pressing the gun against Burke's face.

"This is so nuts. I mean listen to what you're saying. It seems Ali and I are the only sensible people around here."

Ali clenched her fist in anger. Burke wasn't trying to tattle on her, but Aglaia had been right, this had come back and bitten her hard on the shoulder.

"What about Ali?" Ripley asked.

All the eyes moved to Ali and she was momentarily at a loss of words. But then she decided that she didn't care anymore. If these humans discovered her true intentions it would be too late for them anyway.

She reached out to Aglaia and asked, _"Have you gotten in yet?"_

_No, I just sent Timothy to take care of one last thing. Then my children will be free to infest the area. Why? Are you planning on revealing yourself?_

"_Not much choice seeing as Burke just told everyone that I helped him with the second stages,"_ Ali replied.

_Will it be too much for me to say 'I told you so'? _Aglaia asked.

"_Yes,"_ Ali said.

_Then I will remain silent._

"What did you make Ali do?" Hicks asked as Ali tuned back into the conversation around her.

"He didn't _make_ me do anything," Ali said quietly.

"What?" Hicks asked; his voice filled with confusion.

"I said he didn't make me do anything. I helped him on my own free will," Ali said.

"Why?" Hicks asked.

"Because she's bad," Newt said and all eyes turned to her. Ali could see the fear drain in Newt's eyes. But Ali knew that the only reason Newt was finally speaking out was because she felt safe around Ripley.

"You knew she was bad?" Ripley asked gently.

Newt nodded. "She was always different from the rest of us. And when the aliens came, she helped them."

"Wait, she's with these mother fuckers?" Hicks asked. His voice suddenly hardened and he stared hatefully at Ali.

"Yes," Ai said, "I helped them because they are my family."

"How?" Ripley asked, "How is it possible that they see you as family?"

Ali shrugged. "Something to do with my birth. My mother was actually the first to be impregnated when she was pregnant with me. Nine years before the alien infestation."

"This is crazy, I say we just kill them both right now and get it over with," Hicks said.

"No, they've got to go back," Ripley said.

Suddenly the lights went out and Ali understood what it was that Timothy had to do before the rest of the aliens could invade.

"They cut the power," Ripley whispered. Ali could tell that she had underestimated the abilities of the aliens. Ali smiled; the colonists had underestimated the aliens too and all ended up dead.

"What do you mean they cut the power? How could they cut the power, they're animals!" Hudson said, fear clouding his judgment.

"No they're not!" Ali shouted.

"I want you and Vasquez out in the hall on patrol," Hicks said, "Gorman, watch Burke." Hicks moved forward quickly and grabbed Ali's upper arm in a tight grip.

Hudson and Vasquez ran into the hall with scanners and began scanning the area. Hudson was already trembling and Ali could tell his fear was overtaking him. Unfortunately, Vasquez remained cool and collected.

"Anything?" Ripley asked as she put on a head piece. Hicks moved forward next to her, dragging Ali behind him. His grip was uncomfortably tight on her arm and she had to hold back from slashing at him with her nails.

"There's something here," Hudson said, "It's inside the complex!"

"Hudson stay cool!" Ripley ordered. She then turned her attention to Vasquez, the calmer one, "Vasquez?"

"Hudson may be right," Vasquez said over the mic and Ali realized that she was grudgingly agreeing with the other soldier.

"Get back, now!" Hicks shouted.

He looked over at Ripley and Ali watched as they shared a glance; they knew what was going to happen.

When Hudson and Vasquez got back into the operations room, Hicks and Vasquez began sealing up the door. Hudson continued to monitor the motion tracker. His voice rose in panic as the distance got smaller.

"Eight meters!"

"They must have found another away in," Ripley mused, "Something we missed."

Ali couldn't tell her how right she was.

"We didn't miss anything!" Hudson insisted.

"Vasquez, Hicks, get away from the door!" Ripley shouted.

As soon as Vasquez and Hicks had sealed the door they stepped back next to Ripley and aimed their guns at the door. Newt was clutching at her shirt sleeve with wide and frightened eyes.

"Four meters!"

"That can't be, that's inside the room!" Ripley said.

"You're must not be reading it right," Vasquez said.

"It's reading right," Hudson insisted.

"Well you're not reading _it_ right!" Vasquez shot back.

As the distance continued to tick down, Ripley pulled out her tracking device and glanced down at it; her expression stated that she thought Hudson was wrong too.

Ali smiled as she saw Ripley stare at the tracker, not understanding how it was possible. Then, Ripley seemed to slowly realize where the aliens were coming from and looked up at the ceiling.


	7. The Final Stage

* * *

It was all going according to plan. Ali had told Aglaia that the humans weren't protecting the hollowed out sections above the ceilings and it would be a good location to make an attack.

"Shit!" Hudson said. He was pointing his tracker at the ceiling and it was beeping out of control.

"Flashlight, move," Hicks said.

He grabbed a chair, reaching up to the ceiling. He pushed up on the ceiling and raised the panel, peeking inside. "Shit!" he screamed and fell back down. Vasquez and Hudson immediately start firing up into the ceiling. The flimsy panels collapsed as the aliens fell down en masse. Ali stepped back quickly, no longer the focus point as the soldiers fired at the aliens. She saw Burke near Gorman who was shooting at the aliens with a hand-held pistol.

Ali grabbed Burke's sleeve and pulled him backwards. "This way!"

Burke followed behind Ali as she led the way to the exit into the corridor. The corridor was empty when Ali and Burke ran through. Burke quickly turned around and started to close the door.

"Burke!" Ali heard Ripley shout from the other end of the door.

Burke managed to get the door closed and locked just as Ripley reached the door.

"Quickly, this way!" Ali said, tugging on Burke's sleeve.

He stumbled backwards slightly as Ali pulled him, staring at the door. He seemed to be second guessing himself and Ali had to pull hard to get him to follow her. Finally, he turned and ran behind her until they got to the second door. Ali opened the door and pulled Burke after her, this time locking the door herself. Burke was looking back frantically at the door as Ali ran across the room to the other door. She could sense Timothy's presence on the other side and she smiled.

"Burke, come on," Ali said and ducked through the door.

Burke continued to back up toward the door and didn't look back until he reached the door. Timothy hissed as Burke backed up behind him and Burke turned slowly. Timothy jumped forward and landed on Burke, knocking him out before he could scream.

_Ali?_ Aglaia asked.

"_What?"_

_The humans are trying to escape through an air duct. Are you going to rejoin them or are you coming back?_

"_I'm coming back. They already know who I am and it will be pointless to try and rejoin them now. I'm on my way back to the Hive, I have another host."_

_Alright. Timothy's with you?_ Aglaia asked.

"_Yes."_

_Be safe_.

* * *

Ali paced slowly in front of Burke. He was still unconscious from the hit to the head by Timothy. Suddenly, Burke's eyes flew open. He moaned slightly and raised his head. He looked around slowly, not seeming to process where he was. Ali stopped pacing and moved to stand directly in front of him. His eyes finally moved to her and he stared at her uncertainly for a moment. His eyes suddenly widened and his body moved slightly. He struggled when he saw that he was contained in a resin made cocoon but his efforts were useless. Eventually he stopped and fixed his gaze back to Ali.

"Ali?" Burke asked.

Ali smiled and looked down at the blossomed egg at Burke's feet. Burke gasped and Ali raised her eyes to see him looking down at the egg.

"It's inside of you already," Ali said softly.

"What? No!"

"It will grow and burst from your chest and you will die," Ali said, "Some reward for turning traitor to your kind, huh?"

Burke didn't seem to be able to speak; his eyes were wide in fear.

_Ali._

Ali turned away from Burke's shocked face and walked to the egg chamber. Aglaia was awake and she turned to face Ali as she came in.

"What is it?"

_There is someone here that I think you will like to see,_ Aglaia responded, _She just arrived._

Already guessing who it was, Ali spun on her heels and ran back into the egg chamber. An alien was putting the finishing touches on a resin cocoon and Ali could see dirty blonde hair sticking out. She smiled and ran down the rest of the way to the alien. The alien stepped back and Ali saw Newt unconscious in a cocoon. Ali laughed happily. The moment she had been waiting for, the chance to watch the last of the colonists die at the claws of her aliens, had at last arrived.

"This is very good," Ali said aloud.

A scream behind her reminded her of Burke and she turned around and walked back to him. Burke was now struggling, a red stain already appearing on his chest. The third stage pushed against Burke's chest, trying to get out, as Burke screamed and arched his back. Finally, the third stage burst through with a screech and Burke went limp. The little third stage continued to screech as it poked his head out of Burke's chest. Ali walked over to it and pulled it free. The third stage screeched lightly now, comforted in Ali's arms.

Ali walked back to Aglaia's throne room, still cradling the third stage in her arms. The Queen had pulled her head back into her crest, a sign that she was asleep. Ali smiled at the sleeping beauty of the Queen. A squelching sound interrupted the silence and Ali turned her attention to the ovipositor that was attached to Aglaia just as an egg slowly appeared out of the opening at the end. The ovipositor rose as the egg landed on the ground and shifted to place another egg next to it. Moving carefully, Ali walked under the transparent ovipositor and climbed up Aglaia's back; once Aglaia had entered the state where there was no difference between reality and imagination, she couldn't be awoken unless a human was nearby. She nestled into the area just behind Aglaia's crest and set the third stage down next to her. The third stage hissed and rubbed its small head against Ali's chin. Ali smiled and stroked the pink head gently. A deeper hiss sounded to Ali's right and she moved her head slowly and saw Timothy climbing up Aglaia's back. The Warrior nudged Ali with his head in the same matter when they first met. Ali smiled; comforted by his presence. She closed her eyes and fell asleep.


	8. Death and Destruction

The thing that awoke her was the scent; the scent of humans. Ali wrinkled her nose and opened her eyes slowly. Both Timothy and the third stage were gone. Ali raised her head more and sniffed the air. The scent smelled like sweat and fear. But Ali grew angry when she recognized the scents of Ripley and Newt. How dare Ripley come here and ruin Ali's fun? She peeked from around Aglaia's head and saw that Ripley was holding Newt in the middle of a dozen or more eggs. Ali smiled.

Suddenly, Aglaia shuddered beneath Ali as she woke up. Ali could hear Aglaia hiss in annoyance when she spotted Ripley and Newt. Ali looked around and saw a couple of Warriors appearing out of the resin walls to come and aid their Queen. But Ripley had other plans; she set Newt down on the ground gently and held up her fire arm. Fire whooshed out of it into empty air and Aglaia hissed. Ripley then pointed the fire arm down at the nearest egg to her.

Now that Aglaia knew what the weapon was capable of she spoke, _All of you, back up slowly. You will have your chance to extract your revenge, but I want none of my unborn babies to die in the process._

The Warriors backed up slowly and disappeared back into the resin walls. Ali remained where she was, as far as she could tell Ripley hadn't seen her yet. Suddenly, she heard Aglaia speaking to her and she focused her attention back on Aglaia.

Ripley had picked Newt back up and was slowly backing up for the exit when one of the eggs nearby blossomed open. That seemed to set Ripley off. She raised the gun as golden fire leapt out of the end. The dancing flames swallowed up the eggs in its path and Aglaia and Ali shrieked as one. There was a click then a loud watery explosion and Aglaia screeched again; this time in pain. Ali looked back to see the liquid that had cushioned the eggs in the ovipositor pouring out of a gaping hole. Another explosion and a second hole appeared. Aglaia was thrashing around now, almost threw Ali from her back. Another jet of fire filled the air and Ali had to take cover again behind Aglaia's crest.

Ali jumped down as the throne holding Aglaia up crashed down. Aglaia continued to screech in pain as Ripley and Newt ran out the exit. Ali was torn between helping her Queen and stopping Ripley. Suddenly, Timothy appeared to block off Ripley's escape. Ripley didn't even pause as she sent a rain of bullets into Timothy's head.

"No!" Ali screamed as Timothy fell over limp and Ripley shot at him again. Her voice was lost amid the screeches coming from Aglaia.

Anger filled her thoughts and mind. Ripley had made the Ali mad when she attacked Aglaia, but it was personal now that Timothy was dead. She took a step forward to follow Ripley.

_Ali! Remember your mission!_ Aglaia commanded as she pulled herself free of her ovipositor. _I will take care of the humans_.

Ali nodded and turned her attention away from Aglaia as the Queen strode after the humans. She reached down and grabbed one of the eggs, picking it up awkwardly. She realized that she couldn't carry two eggs at the same time. She sighed and called a Warrior toward her. It came forward slowly. It gazed at Ali before bending down and picked up an egg next to her.

Ali smiled and led the way out, ignoring the lifeless body of her only friend as she made her way out of the Hive, carrying the one egg awkwardly in front of her. Warning lights began flashing and a female voice warned her that she needed to reach minimal safety distance. Ali ignored the electronic voice and continued moving through the Hive until she was standing in front of the elevators. She punched the button for the right elevator and she watched as it slowly lowered down toward her. She looked over to the left one and saw that it was moving up. The elevator reached her and opened; empty. Ali stepped inside and set the egg on the ground and pushed the up button after the Warrior had followed her in. The door closed and the elevator made its ascent. The left elevator had made it to the top and Ali heard a screech; Aglaia. Ali willed the elevator to move faster; she wanted to join Aglaia in the killing of Ripley.

The doors opened slowly and Ali saw the second drop ship being knocked over toward her and Aglaia, who stood waiting. Ali grabbed the egg in both hands and ran, the Warrior following behind, around Aglaia as the Queen jumped and landed in the front landing gear. Ali jumped as well and landed in one of the back landing gears, the Warrior next to her. The landing gear began to rise and Ali was worried it would crush them, but it stopped, leaving them both enough space to move around. The escape from the planet was a rocky one; the ship was constantly buffeted and always bumping into things. Finally, Ali felt the ship picking up speed as it cleared the nuclear transmitter. Suddenly, the ship was rocketed to the side and Ali could see a bright light filtering in from the crack in the landing gear. The planet and Ali's home had been destroyed. Ali closed her eyes, trying to control her fury as the ship continued to rise into space.


	9. A Promise That Would Be Kept

Ali felt the ship being locked into place and tightened her grip around the egg and braced herself as the landing gear lowered. She was going to have to hold still until the humans were killed by Aglaia; she didn't want to get shot at. She could hear Ripley thanking the android, Bishop, for saving them and Ali almost gagged. Suddenly, Ali heard Bishop cry out. She lowered her head slowly and peeked out to see a barbed tail protruding from Bishop's chest. Bishop cried out again as a white, milky substance poured out of the wound and his mouth.

_Ali?_ Aglaia called out.

"_I'm here, my Queen," _Ali replied.

_Good, stay where you are. No matter what happens._

Ali pulled herself back up into the landing gear and sighed. She knew that Aglaia could take care of the issue herself, but Ali couldn't help but worry.

Throughout the fight, Ali couldn't tell who had the upper hand. Ripley seemed to have gotten some robotic help because there was the constant sound of hydraulics. Suddenly, Ali could hear a huge door being opened and Aglaia screeched. Ali heard Ripley cry out and then a loud crash. She wanted to peek out and see what was going on but she didn't want to risk being seen, especially since she didn't know where Newt was. Suddenly, there was a siren and a strong gust of wind pulled objects across the ground; Ali was safe since she was still up in the landing gear. She heard Aglaia screeching and she couldn't take it any longer; she had to help her.

_Ali! Stay where you are!_ Aglaia cried out, _This plan must go smoothly._

_What's going on? What's happening?_ Ali asked.

Aglaia didn't respond. Ali realized that her Queen's presence was getting weaker and weaker. The wind had stopped and there was strange calm over the area. Ali started hyperventilating; she had never been far enough from the Queen where she wasn't able to feel her presence.

"_Aglaia?"_ Ali called out but there was no response.

Fury clouded Ali's vision for the second time. Her best friend was dead and now her Queen was gone as well. Ripley and her friends were going to pay for taking everything away. Ali made a promise to avenge her family.

* * *

The silence wore on but Ali remained frozen in her hiding spot. She wanted to make sure they were frozen and asleep for the return home before she made her move. Finally, she grew bored of waiting and jumped down to the ground, being careful to keep the egg from slamming into the ground. The Warrior followed her and landed gracefully.

The sleep chambers weren't that hard to find. She stared down at the four of them, their faces free of fear. Bishop was in a strange bag that was probably to keep him alive after his run-in with Aglaia. Next was Hicks, he was bandaged heavily on his chest and eye. Ali leaned closer and saw that he had been burned badly from an alien's blood. Ripley was in the next chamber after Hicks, she looked normal, all anxiety gone from her features. Last was Newt, her hair was brushed and clean and her face was also in a calm peace.

Ali smiled as she stared over them. She set the egg down on the ground and the Warrior did the same. It then turned and ran off; following the orders given to them by Aglaia. Ali went over to the controls from the sleep chamber and found that they weren't too hard to figure out. She pushed a button and the lid for the chamber next to Bishop opened up slowly. Ali then punched the appropriate buttons after that so she would have time to get settled in the sleep chamber before it started. She lay down slowly and closed her eyes. Just as she drifted off to sleep, her red lips pulled back into a smile.

* * *

**A/N**

**The last part was too short, so I combined it with the last chapter...........its the last three paragraphs.....**

**~Ali Wenstern  
**


	10. Introduction Part2

**A/N: The events that take are now taking place are based off the third alien movie, Aliens3 (This story was the most fun to write!)**

_Introduction_

Five hyper sleep chambers contained the survivors of the LV-426 incident: ahn android, a soldier, a woman, and two young girls. The android was in bad shape; he had been ripped in half and his face was terribly disfigured. The soldier was a handsome man; he had bandages over his right eye and around his right arm. The woman had short brown hair and her face was wrinkled with worry lines. The blonde haired girl had an expression of calm over her face; as if a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders. The raven haired girl had a small smile on her lips, but there was nothing sweet or innocent about it; the smile was of greed and malice. Suddenly a Warrior alien, an eyeless dark blue creature with razor sharp teeth appeared. It walked up to two eggs that were lying at the base of the woman's and blonde girl's sleep chambers. The Warrior hissed and the eggs opened up. Two fleshy looking spider-creatures crawled out. The first jumped up against the woman's container, breaking the glass. There was a sizzling sound as the spider-creature's spit burned a hole in the ground. A spark jumped as the acid reached the electrical wires and a fire quickly started.

"Stasis interrupted. Fire in cryogenic compartment. Repeat, fire in cryogenic compartment. All personnel report to emergency escape vehicle launch pod. Deep-space flight will commence in T-minus twenty seconds," a computerized female voice said.

The Warrior looked up at the speaker where the woman's voice was coming. It hissed and walked back through the ship; leaving the sleep chambers behind. The second spider-creature jumped onto the surface of the raven haired girl's chamber and lay flat as the chambers suddenly detached from the wall and autmatically filed into an escape pod; the people inside remaining undisturbed. After all the escape pods were loaded and locked into place, the escape pod launched itself into orbit, leaving the burning ship and Warrior alien behind.


	11. Mission Complete

* * *

Ali opened her eyes slowly and looked up through the broken glass of her sleep chamber. She blinked twice before reaching up to push on the chamber. It was heavy but she managed to get it open and she crawled out. There was a scurrying sound and Ali peered around the five sleep chambers and saw a lone second stage, crouching behind the chambers. She smiled and held her hands out. The second stage crouched down slightly before springing forward and landing on Ali's shoulder. Ali looked back at the sleeping forms within the chambers. On a closer look, she discovered that the android had been crushed behind repair and Hicks had part of his own outfit sticking out of his chest. But Ali couldn't tell if Newt was alive or not. The thing that brought Ali's full attention was the presence of a third stage. And it was coming from Ripley.

"This is a fitting end for you, Ripley," Ali said; her voice hard.

Ripley's chamber had a hole in it similar to Ali's but the woman inside lay unresponsive. Ali smirked and walked toward the exit. The door opened when Ali approached and she found herself staring out into a strange world. The escape pod was floating in a body of water but land wasn't that far away. Ali could see people moving around on the land; clearly the crashing escape pod hadn't escaped notice. Ali's smirk widened as she dove into the black waters.

Ali wove through the water expertly, her feet kicking behind her to propel her further. The second stage swam along beside her; using its tail to propel it forward. When Ali's head broke the surface she was almost at the shore. She looked back at the escape pod and could see movement on it.

"Didn't take them long, did it?" Ali said to herself.

The second stage screeched, jumped on Ali's shoulder again, and tapped her with one of its digits.

Ali looked down at the second stage and smiled. "I haven't forgotten about you, my precious. I'll find you a host."

Ali walked toward the giant building where she hoped to find a suitable host for the second stage. The building was empty when Ali snuck in through a window; the people who lived here probably came to investigate the crash. A faint clicking sound alerted Ali to something moving ahead and around a corner. She walked slowly forward and waited. After awhile, a Rottweiler, stepped out into the hall. The dog started to wag its tail when it saw Ali and she grinned; it would be interesting to experiment with a four legged animal. A slight weight pressed down on Ali's shoulder before the weight left completely. The second stage flew through the air and hit the dog straight in the face. The second stage sat awkwardly on the dog's slightly long face and its digits cut into the dog's head as it got a grip on the dog's head.

"My mission is completed, Aglaia," Ali said softly. _Take second stages and find hosts to impregnate them so that my children may live on._

She had been trying to avoid thinking of her Queen and best friend but as she looked over the unconscious dog and the second stage on its face, their deaths came crashing down on her. She shook her head and tried to push them back out; she didn't have time to mourn over their deaths. She stood guard over the second stage until it fell off and died. She picked up the second stage and tried to find a spot to hide it so that no one would suspect anything.

Once she had disposed of the body, there was nothing to distract her of Timothy's death and it washed over her in a tremendous wave. She fell to her knees and buried her face in her hands, letting out loud wails of anguish and cursing Ripley. Something warm and bristly ran over her hand and Ali raised her head. The Rottweiler was standing over her, wagging its tail and licking her hand. Ali reached a hand up and placed it on top of the dog's head. There were still marks on its head where the digits of the second stage had cut into its head.

"Soon enough," Ali said, stroking the dog's head and thinking of the alien inside of it, "Soon, Ripley will understand our fury!"

She tilted her head back and let out a laugh that rose in hysterics as the dog continued to lick her hand.


	12. Aglaia's Voice

Ali found that the place she had crashed at was a prison of all male inmates who had committed various crimes of violating women and murder. She couldn't be more pleased with the circumstances; she and Ripley were the only females on the entire planet. But Ripley wasn't going to let that stop her; she walked with the doctor, Clemens, to see what it was that had killed Newt without any concern of the male prisoners. She was right in thinking there was another reason for the girl's death. Ali snuck through the halls to the obituary where Newt's body was being stored. It wasn't that hard to hide; the room was pretty much shadows. Ali watched as Ripley examined Newt's body, trying to find some sign that there was an alien inside the dead girl. But Ali knew better; the only one Ripley should be examining was herself. Eventually, Ripley demanded for Clemens to cut Newt open so she can study the girl's insides. Ali couldn't feel any pity as Ripley's eyes were red and swollen from crying. In fact, she was waiting for Ripley to break down all together.

Eventually Ali grew bored and she left to go find the dog that carried the third stage. She walked into the room but quickly ducked back out when she saw one of the inmates examining the dog; obviously noting the grip marks the second stage left.

"What kind of animal would do that to a dog?" The inmate asked.

Ali peered around the corner and saw the inmate still had his back to her. She quickly snuck into the room and walked off to the side; hiding in the shadows. She waited until the man left before walking up to the dog.

"You poor thing," Ali said, "You're suffering. But don't worry; the pain will be gone soon enough."

Spike looked up at her and whined from deep in his throat. His eyes were full of pain as the third stage inside his chest made premature attempts to escape host. Ali sat down in front of Spike and stroked his head.

"Are you proud of me, my Queen?" Ali asked herself.

"_Yes, you did very well. You are a very good girl."_

Ali let out a little giggle. "Why thank you! I do try my best to please you. What about Timothy? Would he be proud too?"

"_Oh, I bet Timothy is very proud of you."_

Ali smirked to herself and moved her hand to scratch Spike behind his ears. Spike seemed to like that as he raised his head, begging for more. Suddenly, he dropped his head to the ground and whined again. Ali pulled her hand away and watched with curious eyes. Spike suddenly stood up and began walking around in circles, still whining. Then, he fell back down to the floor and began rolling, as if trying to relieve himself of some un-comfort. Finally, he lay still and his chest rose awkwardly. Spike whined in pain as the third stage gnawed its way through his chest. Then, with a spray of blood, Spike's chest burst open and splattered Ali in gore. The small third stage fell to the ground and gave a weak screech. It was unlike the third stages that came out of humans; it still had the pink body but its front arms doubled as legs and it was slightly larger.

Ali gave a slight gasp at the beautiful creature standing before her.

The third stage raised its head and fixed Ali with its sightless gaze. It stood up and wobbled over to Ali. She placed her hands around the third stage's torso and supported it to prevent it from falling over. After a while, the third stage was able to walk without Ali's help. When it was strong enough, Ali stood up and walked out of the room; the third stage following close to Ali's heels.

"I should get you some food," Ali said, looking down at the third stage, "You need to grow strong so you can help me kill Ripley."

The third stage hissed in reply. It rubbed its head against Ali's leg as the two walked through the halls. Suddenly, a cool breeze ruffled Ali's hair and she turned to find the source. A ventilating shaft that was missing its vent cover stood only a few feet off the ground; enough distance for Ali and the third stage to get in. Ali smiled and walked over to it. The third stage followed close by and looked up at the vent. Without a sound, it jumped up and vanished through the opening. Ali grabbed the bottom and sprung forward as well.

Once she was inside she crawled forward, following the third stage as it sought out food. The third stage hissed eagerly when it caught sight of something moving. It sprang forward and pounced on a struggling rat. The third stage sunk its teeth into the rat causing it to go limp. The third stage gnawed noisily on the rat's body. Suddenly, the third stage looked up and shrieked. Ali looked up too and saw a human face peering down at them. The third stage twitched forward and shot something out of its mouth. It hit the man in the face and he fell back with a shout. Ali was shocked, the third stage had spit acid at the man; some of it was burning through the metal that the man was peeking through.

"This is very good, Aglaia. You should be very proud of this one," Ali said.

"_Oh, I am."_

The third stage looked over its shoulder at Ali and hissed; asking if it did well.

"You did very well," Ali said, "Aglaia and I are very proud of you; Timothy would be proud of you too."

The third stage hissed happily and turned back to the rat. After the third stage had stripped the body of the meat and muscles, Ali turned and started walking back the way they had come. The third stage followed behind, munching on the bones.

**A/N: If you haven't figured out already…Ali is going crazy and thinks the Queen is still talking to her. Normal text is Ali speaking, italicized is Ali talking back to herself as if it was Aglaia. **

**PLEASE NOTE THAT AGLAIA IS DEAD. ALI JUST SPEAKS FOR HER AS IF SHE WERE STILL ALIVE.**


	13. Witnesses

"I want to name him."

The third stage looked up at Ali and cocked its head to the side. It had already shed for the first time and now had a unique brown body with four legs instead of two.

"_Why?" _

"Well, I gave Timothy a name."

"_Of course, how could I have forgotten?"_

"I don't want to name him Timothy though; that name belongs only to Timothy."

"_Right. I think you should give him his own name."_

"Something that's unique."

"_Hicks." _

"What?"

"_What about Hicks? You liked him, didn't you?"_

"Yeah, until he found out whose side I was on."

"_Well, it's your decision. You can name him whatever you want."_

"I guess I could name him Hicks."

"_You better make sure he likes the name; it would be pointless to name him something he doesn't want to be."_

"Yes, you're absolutely right!"

Ali looked down at the third stage. "Do you like the name Hicks?"

The third stage seemed to think about the name for a minute before screeching and rubbing Ali with its head.

"_He likes it!"_

"Great! So, Hicks, are you hungry?"

Hicks hissed desperately and bobbed his head up and down.

"I'll get you something to eat," Ali said and she stood up.

Hicks stood up too, already as tall as Ali and still growing, and pranced around eagerly. Ali smiled and led the way down the hall.

"Where should we start?"

"_I don't know; we need to find a place where there are some prisoners."_

"Well, we can find where they're cleaning or something like that."

"_Hicks would be able to use his sonar to track down humans better than we can with our noses."_

"You're right!"

Ali turned her attention to Hicks. "Try to see if you can find some prisoners."

Hicks hissed eagerly and lowered his head slightly. He moved to the left but then doubled back to the right. He paused before talking two steps forward, then moving to the right. Finally he hissed and bobbed his head.

"Three of them you say? Well, that shouldn't be a problem for the three of us."

Hicks hissed and pranced around Ali until she started walking forward. He was so excited that he would occasionally run ahead before doubling back and walking with Ali for a while.

Finally the sound of voices reached Ali and she slowed down; Hicks doing the same. Hicks crouched down eagerly and looked at Ali.

Ali smiled and nodded. "Leave one of them alive. There always needs to be a witness."

Hicks hissed happily and ran into the shadows. It didn't take long before Ali heard one of the inmates scream. She peeked around the edge and saw the inmate getting pulled up into an air shaft in the ceiling and splattered the other inmates with blood. The remaining two men started screaming and ran off in opposite directions. As the inmate neared Ali she stuck her foot out sent the man sprawling on the floor. He flipped over on his back and looked up at Ali; his eyes only held fear now.

"What should we do with him?"

"_You gave Hicks the duty of leaving a survivor."_

"You're right!" Ali bent down and grabbed the man by the collar of his shirt. "So, who's hungry? Timothy?"

"_I think you know the answer to that."_

"You're right. Timothy doesn't need to eat. Not now, not ever; he's gone. Dead. Never coming back."

The prisoner was staring at Ali with a confused look. Suddenly, Hicks appeared behind Ali and jumped at the man. The man let out one scream before Hicks sent his second mouth through his head.

"So the witness is alive?" Ali asked Hicks.

Hicks responded with a hiss.

"Good. What should we do now?"

"_Ripley is going to want to blame us for this."_

"Yes, that's why there needs to be a witness. Someone to raise Ripley's suspicions."

"_To make her believe she is being hunted again."_

"Does she know what's inside of her chest?"

"_No, I don't think she suspects anything, yet."_

"But she will eventually, right?"

"_Right, with your help of course!"_

"Should we try to find her now?"

"_No I think we should wait."_

"She will try to convince the prisoners that they are being stalked by an alien, right?"

"_Yes, and they won't believe her so she will also start to doubt if she's completely sane."_

Ali giggled to herself again and turned away from the dead prisoner. "Come along, Hicks."

Hicks looked up and then back down at the prisoner. He hissed grudgingly and followed Ali out.


	14. Exposing the Plan

* * *

"_You know what you should do?"_

"What?"

"_Well, it won't take Ripley long to find a friend. You should find this 'friend' of Ripley and then kill him!"_

"Yes! Then she will try to convince them again and we can reveal ourselves then. They will try to stop us and we can use that opportunity to kill them all!"

"_We should probably take their leader out too. To add to the confusion."_

"We'll let Hicks have that honor."

"_That is a good idea!"_

"Thank you! So where would Ripley be?"

"_I think she is going to be somewhere away from the prisoners, seeing as they are considered molesters."_

"So she needs to be friends with someone who is somewhat distanced from the others. To keep Ripley safe."

"_Yes, like that Clemens man; the doctor."_

"Clemens, that's the one!"

"_Let's go find him!"_

Ali laughed manically and Hicks hissed next to her.

The air ducts served Ali's and Hicks' purpose once again as they moved though them, trying to locate Clemens and Ripley.

"We have to find him when he's with Ripley."

"_Yes, that would be the best."_

"Where would they be?"

"_The medical room. At least, that is where a doctor should be."_

"Alright, let's go find the medical room."

Ali moved through the air ducts with animal-like grace, following Hicks as he tracked Ripley's scent. Suddenly, he stopped and looked down. Ali moved up next to him and saw that he was looking down into a grating. Sitting of to the side of the grating were Ripley and Clemens. They were talking but Ali ignored them. Suddenly, Clemens pulled a curtain closed, surrounding him and Ripley. Ripley was smiling up at Clemens with infatuated eyes. He reached for a needle and held it up. It caught the light and glinted ominously.

Ali looked over at Hicks and whispered, "Dispose of the man."

Hicks pulled the grating away and dropped down silently on the other side of the curtain. There was a strangled cry of fear and Ali peeked down to see one of the men that Ali and Hicks had ambushed; the witness. Ali looked back as Hicks approached the white curtain. Clemens had just injected the needle into Ripley's arm and Ali turned away quickly. She couldn't understand why she had such a fear of the things; they would just melt away when they came into contact with her blood. Suddenly, Ripley pulled back from the needle; staring at Hick's outline on the curtain. Hicks moved quickly then, grabbing Clemens through the curtain and jumping up into the air duct. As Ali moved out of the way to make room for Hicks, Hicks sunk his teeth into Clemens' head, sending blood everywhere. Before Ali could say anything, Hicks jumped back down through the air duct.

Ali quickly put her head through the hole and looked around. Hicks was approaching Ripley, who had her back pressed against the wall. Hicks brought his face right up against Ripley's and smelled her. He hissed and his second mouth came out slowly, opening and closing. Ripley let out a small cry as Hicks hissed and closed her eyes; as if waiting for an attack. Hicks turned away then and jumped back up into the air duct.

Ali watched as Ripley got slowly to her feet; clearly shaken. Ali smiled and gracefully fell through the hole and landed on her feet in front of Ripley. Ripley's eyes widened when she saw Ali and she pressed her back again up against the wall.

"Ali? Is that you?"

"Who else would it be?" Ali asked, "You do still remember me, don't you?"

"You look different."

"I do?" Ali asked.

She looked around and saw a silver tray that is probably used to carry food to patients. She reached over and picked it up, bringing the tray to her face to study her reflection. She hadn't had the chance to see what she looked like since she landed on this godforsaken planet and she was slightly shocked at what she saw. Her once glossy black hair was now a tangled and dirty mess, her eyes were blood shot and she had dark rings around them.

"What happened to me?

"_Ripley."_

"Yes, you're right. Ripley did this to me."

"What are you talking about?" Ripley asked.

"You made me like this."

"I didn't do any--," Ripley started to say.

"You killed them! You killed my only family. You tore bullets into Timothy's head even after he was already dead. And then you destroyed my Queen!"

Ripley remained speechless as Ali forgot all about her.

"_Remember the plan."_

"No! I say we kill her now!"

"_No! You know why you cannot kill her yet!"_

"Can we at least make her suffer?"

"_I guess a little suffering never hurt anyone."_

"What are you talking about?" Ripley seemed to find her voice again.

Ali turned to face Ripley before speaking. "You killed our best friend. Our only friend."

"That alien?!"

"To you, Timothy may have just been an alien. But to me, he wasmy only friend. I was always considered different; no one wanted to be my friend. When the aliens invaded, Timothy found me hiding in my room. He had just killed someone-I remember that there was blood dripping down his mouth-but he didn't attack me. He treated me differently; he seemed to care about me. On, and if killing my friend wasn't good enough; you had to kill my Queen too."

"I blew her out of the airlock," Ripley said.

"She won't be able to last long in zero gravity with no food." Ali said, "But she's not completely gone. She's still alive in me."

"_And I will always be here with you."_

"Are you responsible for what happened to us?" Ripley asked. "The fire on the ship and the alien?"

"Yes, I did that. I was following orders from my Queen. I brought the alien onboard with me. You see, we-me and Aglaia-think this is only fair. Newt was supposed to be a host for a third stage but she drowned inside her own body. I was going to spare Hicks because I always liked him, but he was too close to you. And I decided that Bishop wouldn't make a good host. Can you figure out what I'm trying to do to you?"

"Beside kill everyone?" Ripley asked.

Ali tilted her head back and let out a crazy laugh. "No, not everyone. Just everyone close to you. You killed my family, so I'm going to kill yours!"

"_Actually, if you think about it, you already did kill her family."_

"Yes, you're right. We killed Newt, Bishop, Hicks, and Clemens. So who's left Ripley?"

"_Hurry up with this, Hicks is waiting."_

"I know, I know, can't I just break her a little bit more?"

"_No! You have a mission to fulfill."_

"Alright," Ali turned back to Ripley, "We're not finished with you yet."

Ali walked underneath the air duct and looked up. Hicks was staring down at her, waiting for her signal. She smiled and looked back at Ripley-still frozen against the wall-as Hicks dropped down and grabbed Ali and pulled her up into the air duct.


	15. How to Mess Up Plans

Ali followed Hicks through the air duct as the alien followed Ripley beneath them. She was running fast toward the mess hall and Ali could guess that the prisoners were in there. Lucky for her, there was an air duct exit in the dining hall, right above a bald man.

"It's here! It got Clemens!"

Ali smiled when she heard Ripley's voice filled with panic and fear. The man beneath her started to speak; his voice was harsh and angry. Hicks didn't wait for Ali's signal and reached down greedily with both claws. He got a good grip on the man and pulled him upwards; the man kicking and screaming as he went. Hicks quickly sent his second mouth through the man's head to silence the screaming and sent blood spattering everywhere.

From below, there was utter panic as the prisoners scrambled to get away from the dripping shaft. Ali chuckled to herself at the mayhem she'd caused. Hicks hissed and headed down the air shaft, dragging the body of the man behind him. Ali followed behind.

Once they were a safe distance away from the commotion, Ali started to laugh. She was feeling happy for the first time since Timothy's death and she didn't want the moment to end. Everything was going according to plan. Ripley was still clueless about the third stage inside her and now Ali was going to get the chance to kill all of the prisoners; none of them would become hosts.

"Things couldn't have worked out better for us, could it?"

"_Of course not. I'm very proud at what you have accomplished."_

"I don't deserve all the credit; you helped me out too."

"_So now that we have the prisoners all worked up its time to move on to step two."_

"Ruin their chances of escape."

"_Let's get started."_

"What do we need to do first?"

"_Find out what they're planning._"

Ali peered around the corner. There was one man standing at the end of the hall whistling to himself. He had a mop and was spreading some foul smelling liquid on the ground. Ali stepped out slowly and approached the man who stopped whistling and looked up. He gazed at Ali with an almost hungry gaze and Ali's smile widened.

"What are you doing?" Ali asked.

"Setting a trap," the man replied.

"A trap?"

"Yeah, we're going to catch the dragon." The man's eyes suddenly widened, "Hey! Where did you come from?"

Ali smiled. "That's really none of your concern."

"I-I don't think you should be here," the man's voice was shaking now.

"I just wanted to know what you were doing."

"Killing the dragon."

"How?"

"By using fire. The dragon doesn't like fire."

"I know that. So how are you planning to kill it?"

"We drop a flame on the explosives and then there will be a big boom and no more dragon."

"Oh really? That's very interesting." Ali replied. She turned away and walked a few steps away from the man. "What would happen if the explosives were lit before the people got out?"

"There might be a few casualties."

Ali grinned to herself and continued walking. She turned the corner and came face to face with Hicks waiting for her. He hissed and swung his tail back and forth.

"Patience, we will get our revenge."

"_You have a plan?"_

"Yes, we start the fire while they are still setting up the trap."

"_Right, and there will be a big boom and no more humans."_

Ali began pacing, keeping her eyes on the ground. Hicks sat down at watched her with his head; tracking her movements perfectly.

"But we can't expect that plan to wipe out them all."

"_No, that's why we need a safety net; something to fall back on."_

"If Ripley is among the survivors, she's going to know it was us."

"_Yes, which means our back-up plan is going to have to be able to kill Ripley."_

"Won't the third stage do the job?"

"_Yes, that will work."_

"So let's put this plan into action."

"_To the ducts."_


	16. Everything Goes Wrong

Hicks sat up and hissed, prancing excitedly, Ali smiled and gave Hicks a reassuring pat on the head. The alien hissed again. Ali looked around until she spotted a ladder. She ran over to it and grabbed the rungs, pulling herself upwards. Once inside the ducts she waited until Hicks had caught up with her before moving on ahead. It wasn't that difficult to find the humans because of the racket they were making. Suddenly, the sound of someone ascending a ladder came from a hole just in front of them. Ali moved forward cautiously when the sound suddenly stopped. She heard the sound of clanging and realized the man had dropped something. Everyone else had gone quite and the air was filled with a shattering silence. Ali understood that the man was probably holding an unlit flare that could have started the bomb prematurely and she almost laughed at the irony.

Hicks startled her when he suddenly pounced forward past her to the edge of the hole. Ali peered around him to see the man's hand at the top of the ladder rung. Hicks reached out and his claws sunk into the man's neck. The man let out a gurgled scream as his blood squirted out his neck. The flare fell from the man's limp fingers and fell, slowly, to the ground. Hicks dropped the man and, following Ali, raced off away from the opening just as an enormous heat wave and a black cloud of smoke filled the duct. Ali fell to the ground and was vaguely aware of something dragging her though the smoke as pain flared up all over her body. She kept her mouth closed to keep the black smoke out but was on the verge of crying out in pain. Next thing she knew, she was falling into darkness.

* * *

Ali opened her eyes slowly when she heard the sound of a woman's voice. She tried to bolt upright but felt a heavy pressure on her chest. She looked down to see Hick's front leg on top of her chest; holding her down. She took a quick moment to examine her body. She remembered the heat and smoke and the terrible pain as her flesh had burned away. She must have been out for a few hours; her skin was already healed.

The voice came again. "Don't be afraid. I'm part of the family."

It was Ripley.

Ali nodded in understanding and Hicks lifted his leg. Ali rose slowly and looked down; Hicks had made a secondary nest in the piping beneath the ceiling. Hicks looked at Ali, as if to ask for permission. Ali smiled and nodded. He hissed and jumped down behind Ripley and Ali jumped down in front. Ripley spun around to face Hicks, deciding not to turn her back on the alien.

"Welcome to the family," Ali said.

"_She figured it out quickly_."

"I know; quicker than I thought. I would have thought she'd figure it out when it came bursting out."

Ripley turned her head to face Ali, but kept her body pointing toward Hicks, and asked, "Why me?"

"Isn't it obvious? You were responsible for the death of my family."

"_So we were going to be responsible for your death."_

"Now Ripley, you really should leave. I still need to recover from the little run in we had with your first trap."

Hicks hissed and walked around Ripley to come up next to Ali. Ripley remained frozen where she was as Ali climbed on Hicks' back and the two vanished around a corner.

Once Ripley was out of sight, Ali tipped her head back and started laughing. The look on Ripley's face was priceless. She was doomed to the knowledge that she was going to die.

"_We need to plan our next move."_

"What is their next plan of action?"

"_We should try to find out what they are planning."_

"It will be hard; I'm not as familiar with this place as I was with my own colony back at LV-426."

"_Send Hicks out to scout; he can avoid detection better than you can."_

"Yes," Ali said as she slide off Hicks's back, "Hicks go see if you can find out what they're planning. Oh, and if you want, you can have a little snack too."

Hicks hissed eagerly and jumped forward and vanished around a corner.

"Will he be okay?"

"_Of course he will. He knows how to handle himself."_

"What if they set a trap for him and he gets caught?"

"_We have to hope that he can get out of it."_

"Maybe I should go along and keep an eye on him."

"_But if there is a trap then they are going to catch us too."_

"I'll be careful."

Ali turned and started walking in the direction that Hicks sped off to. She couldn't tell exactly where he went after that but she'd hoped she could come across him feeding. Suddenly, she heard a shout echoing through the tunnels and Hicks' screech. Ali jogged down the hall in the direction of the sounds. She rounded a corner and spied Ripley and two men standing down at the other end of the hall with their backs to her. Ali quickly ducked back and took a deep breath; they must have set a trap for Hicks. Suddenly, Hicks appeared and raced toward the group.

"Hicks!" Ali shouted.

But the alien could no longer hear her. His instincts had taken over; he was now a killing machine intent on sinking his teeth into human flesh.


	17. Another Death At Ripley's Hands

* * *

There was a loud roaring sound as huge piston started up and began moving slowly toward the end of the hallway. Ali ran into the corridor and ran down to the piston. She could hear Ripley and another man speaking.

"Where is it?"

"It must have gone behind the piston."

"We gotta get it back!"

Ali ran off in another direction, this time following the sound of screams. She looked up and saw and air duct above her. Jumping, she managed to get inside and continued searching inside. At an opening she peeked down and saw a mangled body; Hicks had come through here.

"Hicks!" Ali screamed but there is no answer.

Suddenly, she heard an ear-splitting screech. She turned and went back the way she had come. She heard Hicks screech again and realized what was going on. Ripley was in danger. Ali had to get to Hicks fast; if Ripley was in danger, Hicks was about to go into defensive mode. Defense mode was even worse than instinct mode.

At the next opening, Ali dropped down to the ground and ran as fast as she could. She suddenly came out onto an observation deck. The observation deck had a chain-link fence around it that kept people from falling over the edge. Ali looked down and saw Ripley, a prisoner, and Hicks inside what appeared to be some kind of narrow corridor. Ripley was climbing up a ladder with the prisoner just behind her.

"No!" Ali shouted, "Hicks!"

Hicks grabbed hold of the male prisoner and pulled him back down into the narrow corridor. Ripley had just reached the top of the ladder and she looked back down toward the prisoner. She shouted something but Ali couldn't hear her as a shaft above opened. A molten material, lead, poured out of the bucket and down into the corridor; Ali realized now that it wasn't a corridor, it was a mold. Hicks screeched as he was covered in the molten lead.

Ripley was climbing up the pipes toward a giant crane where another prisoner was standing, waiting on a platform. Suddenly, the lead exploded upwards and Hicks appeared, covered in molten lead. He landed at the edge of the mold and shook his body, trying to wipe the lead off. Once he had gotten most of the lead off he looked up at Ripley and hissed harshly. He began climbing upwards toward Ripley.

"Douse it with the sprinklers!" the man on the platform said.

Ripley looked over to a chain near her and she grabbed it without a second thought. The sprinklers above turned on and rained down on Hicks. Long cracks appeared on Hicks' head and Ali screamed as the lead contracted and Hicks exploded.

"Ripley!" Ali shouted. Ripley looked up in shock and her gaze met Ali's. Ali started to climb up the fence to get to Ripley. "Ripley! I will kill you!"

Suddenly, the observation deck was filled with people. Two of them grabbed Ali and pulled her off the fence. She screamed and clawed at the two men, sinking her nails into their faces. They fell back with cries of pain and Ali grinned triumphantly. Suddenly, a harsh whistling noise filled the air, piercing Ali's eardrums. She screamed and fell to her knees, clasping her head in her hands. She felt two pairs of arms grab her and pick her up. She struggled weakly as she was dragged back and thrown against something. She writhed around on the soft padding as the screeching continued. Suddenly, the sound stopped and Ali looked up to see that a clear lid had been lowered over her. She screamed when she realizing that they were going to put her into hypersleep.

"I want to see her die!" Ali screamed.

The gas was released into the chamber and Ali fought against it as it slowly forced her into slumber. She looked out toward the crane where Ripley stood, balanced on the edge. Because of the gas it took Ali a moment to realize what Ripley was about to.

"NO!" the word was ripped through her throat as she watched Ripley fall backwards off the platform.

Ali raised a hand, fighting still against the sleep, and ran her nails down the lid as the Queen burst out of Ripley's chest. Ali succeeded in leaving five long gouges in the surface and screamed her throat raw as watched her future and Ripley vanished in the burning inferno. Her hand fell down onto her chest as she lost the battle of slumber. She closed her eyes and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.


	18. Introduction Part3

_

* * *

_**A/N: The scenes from this story take place in Alien Resurrection. **

_Introduction_

Two hundred years after the events on Fiorina 161, the USM Auriga, a large military vessel, floated outside regulated military space. On board, a series of experiments were underway. The scientists were trying to clone Ellen Ripley who had died on Fiorina 161; killing the embryo Queen within her. After a series of seven misshapen human and alien crosses, the scientists finally cloned a perfect Ripley. They sped up her growth until she was an adult and then removed her from her tube. After a tense surgery, the alien Queen that had been cloned inside of Ripley was removed. She was kept alive for further study while the alien Queen went on to grow and start reproducing eggs. A group of six smugglers brought a hijacked crew to the ship to be used as hosts for the Queen. The alien breed that was created was kept in cages; but they are finding a way to escape.


	19. Awakened

* * *

"I can't wait for this job to be over!" Hills shouted.

"Don't get your hopes up. We still have to get these specimens back to home base," Peck said. He reached forward and pressed the button to open the door.

"God, this place is a mess," Hills exclaimed.

"You know the general, such a packrat!"

"Let's just find what we need and get out of here." Hills said.

"It's over this way," Peck said and he moved off to the right.

Hills continued moving forward, examining all of the stuff. "Hey Peck! Come check this out!"

"What is it?"

"It looks like an old hypersleep chamber."

Peck walked up and bent down to examine the chamber more closely. "It looks to be around two hundred years old."

"Why would the general want something from two hundred years ago? Is he crazy?"

"Does it really matter? Let's just get what we need and get out," Peck said and he stepped away.

Hills remained in front of the chamber. "This sure is a lot of dust." He brushed his hand over the surface and four inches of dust wiped clear to reveal the contents within. "Shit!"

"What is it?" Peck asked.

"Man, you gotta come see this!" Hills exclaimed.

"What is it?" Peck said as he walked up, "Come on, man, this better not be a fucking joke—," he stopped when he caught sight of the sleep chamber. "Shit!"

A young girl, probably around the age of nine or ten, was lying inside the chamber. Her eyes were closed and her head was tilted slightly to the side. There was the peaceful calm about her that usually surrounded all hypersleepers. Her black hair was tangled and messy but her striking features made up for the disarray. Her hands were folded gently across her chest, revealing long, black nails.

"Check out these gouges," Hills said. He was examining five perfectly parallel scratches in the surface of the chamber, "It looks like they were made on the inside. How long do you think this girl was in here?"

"I would guess that she has been in there for around two hundred years. Shit, this can't be real."

They were so absorbed in the girl inside the sleep chamber that they didn't hear the faint sounds of a siren starting up. Or the male voice saying that there were unauthorized openings of certain cages.

"Hey, check this out," Hills said. He traced a red label that had been stuck to the sleep chamber. The warning message was writing in a thick, black marker: _Do not open. Dangerous._

"What do you think that means?" Hills asked.

"Don't know, don't care. It's none of our business. Let's just get out of here."

Peck moved off again. Hills remained fascinated by the sleep chamber, "Why would the general want to keep a girl in hypersleep?"

He heard a loud hiss behind him and he turned sharply. One of the specimens the scientists had been creating was standing behind him. Its glittering, smooth black head was inches from his face. Saliva dipped off the creature's teeth as it opened its mouth to expose the smaller mouth within. With a screech it shot the second mouth through Hill's head; spraying the sleep chamber with blood.

"Hills! What the hell--?" Peck said as he rounded the corner.

He yelled and jumped back behind a stack of books. The alien didn't seem to have noticed him; it was focused more on the sleep chamber. The alien crouched down to the blinking lights at the base of the chamber. Its second mouth shot out and hit the controls. There was a spark and the lights turned off as the lid of the sleep chamber opened up with a hiss. The alien stepped back and waited as the lid rose slowly until it couldn't go any further. A hand appeared and the young girl sat up in the chamber.


	20. Revenge on Ripley

* * *

Ali opened her eyes slowly. The first thing she saw was the Warrior alien looking down at her. It was slightly different from the ones that she was used to, but it didn't matter; it was a familiar face. Ali rose and stepped out of the sleep chamber. Her legs gave out beneath her and she fell to the ground. The Warrior crouched down next to her and nudged her with its head. She smiled and stroked the smooth head. She held onto the Warrior for support and slowly got to her feet. She slowly took her hand off the Warrior's head and stood still without support. A gasp alerted her to the presence of another man and she turned to the Warrior. The Warrior responded with a hiss and ran off into the darkness. While Ali waited for the Warrior to return, she ran a hand through her hair. Her hand met a knot pretty quickly but she was able to work it out. She continued pulling the knots out of her hair until, finally, her hair was free of knots and once again hung in a black sheet around her face.

As soon a she was done, the Warrior appeared, dragging a man behind it. The man was still alive and conscious, but was whimpering as the Warrior dropped him down at Ali's feet.

"How is it possible?" The man asked; more to himself then to Ali.

"How is what possible?" Ali asked.

The man looked up slowly at Ali. "How is it possible that you recovered so quickly? If a person were in hypersleep for two hundred years, they shouldn't be able to move for weeks!"

"It's been two hundred years?" Ali asked, this time to herself. She then turned her attention back to the man, "What's your name?"

"Peck," Peck said shakily.

"So tell me Peck," Ali said and she crouched down in front of Peck so that she could look him straight in the eyes, "Do you know someone by the name of Ellen Ripley?"

"Ellen Ripley died over two hundred years ago. But there is the number eight clone, is that what you're talking about?" Peck asked.

"You're telling me she's alive? How?" Ali asked.

"The doctors used blood samples that were found on Fiorina 161 where Ellen Ripley died. It's not the real person, they cloned her to get the thing inside of her."

"Interesting, so the Queen inside Ripley is alive as well. Looks like I have to do some searching," Ali straightened up and started to walk away.

The Warrior hissed, looking down at Peck.

"Wait! Please don't kill me!" Peck said when he saw the Warrior and Ali exchange a glance.

"I can't risk anyone revealing my presence to the rest of the crew," Ali said.

The Warrior hissed excitedly and its second mouth shot out and Peck's body fell forward, gushing blood.

Ali laughed as the dark red blood seeped across the ground. She turned away and walked to the door, the Warrior followed behind. She was going to get her revenge on Ripley for the murder of Timothy, Hicks, and Aglaia.

**

* * *

A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the short chapter...I had an ACT test today so I wasn't in the most thinkative mood.....Next chapter should be longer! :D**

**~Ali Wenstern  
**


	21. Queen Orla

Ali stared down into the cargo bay where the alien Queen had made her home. The walls were coated in a slightly lighter color but the Hive looked the same for the most part. The Queen tilted her head when Ali entered and hissed.

_Who is this?_ The Queen asked the Warrior that had accompanied Ali.

Ali smiled; the voice in her head had never felt so wonderful. "My name is Ali."

_You can hear me?_ The Queen asked, slightly surprised.

"Yes. I was born with DNA of a third stage. I'm like you, just a human on the outside."

_Where do your loyalties lie?_ The Queen asked.

"I will serve you," Ali replied.

The Queen hissed, _That is very good. My name is Orla._

Ali bowed. "It's nice to meet you, Orla. I promise that I be of use to you."

_Thank you. The first thing you can do for me is tell me about the people on board this space vessel._

"Unfortunately, my Queen, I don't know anymore about them then you do. You see, I've been in hypersleep for the past two hundred years and was just woken up by one of your Warriors about an hour ago."

_Then it appears you have a mission to fulfill. I want you to find the remaining survivors and find out what you can about them; I expect a report every few hours or so. Then, I want you to find away to get this vessel to a planet with life so that my Hive can grow._

Ali bowed again and walked out the opening where she had come in. She couldn't be happier with the way things were playing out. She was going to get a chance to find Ripley and spread the Hive. She didn't have to look long. Ripley, along with the eight other survivors, was standing at the end of the hall having some kind of argument. While watching the group Ali was shocked when she smelled an alien scent coming from Ripley. She remembered how the soldier had told her that they had cloned Ripley for the alien Queen inside of her. She must have received some of its DNA during the cloning. Now she was just like Ali. She smiled to herself before turning the look into that of a frightened child and walked up to the group. The arguments immediately stopped.

**A/N: sorry it took a while to get this chapter posted. And sorry that its so short, i know i said that it would be longer, but there are a lot of stressful things going on right now so its been a little hard for me to think. Anyway, Orla's name roughly means royalty.**

**~Ali Wenstern**


	22. An Intersting Discovery

* * *

"Who are you?" an ugly man asked Ali. He was wearing a sweater over a pair of scrubs so Ali assumed that he was a doctor of some kind.

"I think I'm lost."

"How did you get on the ship?" the doctor demanded, "There were no children here when we departed."

Ali shrugged. "I'm a little confused right now, I was just attacked by a big creature thing. But I managed to get away."

"What's your name?" A short haired woman asked.

"Ali," Ali replied, staring at Ripley.

Ripley's expression showed no signs that she recognized the name.

_This is interesting, _Ali thought to herself.

"My name's Call," The short haired woman said, "You can come with us; we're trying to get of this ship."

Call had a strange scent to her that was vaguely familiar to Ali. She struggled back, trying to remember when she had smelled someone like Call. Then she picked up the sounds of low whirling. Ali listened close to the sounds Call's body was making and realized she couldn't pick up a heartbeat. She suddenly remembered the smell; the android Bishop, Call was an android as well.

"You'd be taking an even more of a risk of you do," Ripley said, stepping close to Ali. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. "She's got one inside of her too. I can smell it."

Ali wasn't that shocked when she heard that. She knew she didn't actually have a third stage inside her; she had its DNA that was passed along to her when her mother was attacked by a second stage. Ripley just smelled the remnants of the alien from when it had been alive inside her mother. But the thing that interested Ali was that Ripley could smell her DNA; that meant that Ripley had indeed inherited some of the DNA from the Queen inside her.

"Shit! Just what we need. Another walking time bomb." A another ugly man said. He had a slightly comical monkey face and Ali had to surpress a giggle.

"Shut up, Johner!" Call said.

"I don't think we need another risk," A black man with long hair said.

"Yeah, I'm with Christie," the man named Johner said.

"We can do to her what we're doing with Purvis." Call insisted.

Ali looked over toward the man named Purvis and looked at his chest. The presence of the third stage was strong and overpowering; it was coming closer to the final stages before birth. Ali had to try hard to resist smiling eagerly.

"Let's just get to the Betty, and then we can decide what we're going to do with the two of them." Ripley said.

The group agreed with the idea and started to walk back down the hallway.

"_Orla?"_ Ali asked while they walked.

There was a moment's pause before Orla answered. _Yes? You have something to report to me?_

"_It would seem that the Ellen Ripley clone has some alien DNA like me. And she was able to smell the DNA inside of me; although she thinks that I have a second stage inside of me._"

_That is very interesting news. Thank you,_ Orla said,_ Stay with the humans for now; I will call for you soon, so be ready._


	23. Traps

The group continued moving at the same pace. Ali was no longer paying attention to what was going on-already plotting her betrayal-so she almost ran into Johner. She managed to catch herself just in time though, she had a feeling he wouldn't be in all the best of moods if she had ran into him. She looked around him to see why he had stopped and saw Ripley, Call, and the ugly doctor crouching around a hole in the ground. One by one, they all climbed down only to find that the area below was filling up with water.

"They must have ruptured the cooling system," Someone shouted over the roar of the water.

"They can do that?" Christie, who was standing near Ali, said.

The doctor ignored Christie and pointed to the only other opening in the flooded hallway. "This cuts through to the mess hall, about ninety feet, to the freight elevator on the other side."

"Wren!" A woman in the back said, "Are you sure about the distance."

"Yes," Wren replied. Without another word, he dove into the water and swam.

Ali didn't wait for anyone to tell her. She took a deep breath and dove beneath the water. Everything went silent; the sound of the water falling was completely cut off. Ali smiled and kicked with her legs, keeping her arms by her sides. She waved her head back and forth so her long hair fanned out around her. She could hold her breath much longer than the humans so she was in no rush and even allowed a few of the humans to pass her up. Suddenly, she heard one of the men give a yell that was muffled by the water. Ali twisted around and was momentarily blinded as her hair swept in front of her face. When her vision was clear she saw two Warriors swimming almost gracefully after the small group.

Ali watched as Johner fired his gun and the bullet shot through the water, moving slowly. The first Warrior was able to swim out of the way, but the second one wasn't so quick and it was hit square in the head. Ali had to resist the urge to kill Johner right then as the alien exploded, sending soft tremors through the water. The rest of the group was thrown into utter panic at that moment and they all swam forward, shoving each other out of the way so as not to be last.

Unfortunately, the woman in the back was a slow swimmer and was weighed down by the two guns around her shoulders. She attempted to ditch the guns but she was still not fast enough to escape the alien stalking behind her. She screamed, releasing a stream of bubbles, as the alien latched onto her ankle and pulled her in the opposite direction.

Ali watched as the woman was pulled away into darkness before swimming behind Ripley through the doorway. When she looked up she saw that the only way out was covered by a thick membrane that could have only been made by the Queen. Ripley pushed past the group and used her nails to break through the membrane. The group broke the surface, coughing and taking in deep breaths. Ali remained under the water; she could sense the presence of a dozen or more first stages about to release the second stages. Sure enough, Ripley soon appeared under the water, struggling to pull a second stage that had jumped on her face. The rest of the group dove back under the water to avoid being attacked themselves. A hiss behind Ali alerted her to the Warrior. She turned slightly as it swam forward, toward Ripley. She heard a loud explosion and looked up as the second stages screeched in pain. The group was climbing out of the hole and Ali swam up to follow them.

"DiStephano," Johner said.

The two of them reached down toward Ali. She reached up and they each grabbed an arm and pulled her up. When her feet were on the ground Ali had a chance to survey her surroundings. The rest of the group was climbing up the support staffs to get to the door two levels up. Ali followed them up.

"_I must congratulate you, Orla,"_ Ali said, _"That was a brilliant plan."_

_Thank you. The trap was all too easy to set up. They had no choice but to go through that area to get out so it was the ideal place to lay a trap._

"_But it didn't work_," Ali said.

_That is too bad. But it just means I get to play with them a little longer_, Orla said.


	24. The Queen in Pain

* * *

Ali broke her connection with Orla so she could focus on climbing up the support staffs. Suddenly, she heard a gunshot and looked up just in time to see Call falling off the platform by the door and Wren hurrying through the open door, locking it behind him. Ali smiled as she watched Wren turn traitor like Burke had before; it seemed that no matter where Ripley went, she was betrayed.

Meanwhile, Call had fallen down into the water and vanished beneath the surface. A moment later, a Warrior jumped out of the water and onto the support staff. He began moving toward Christie and Vriess, the cripple on his back. Christie was moving slowly because of Vriess, and the Warrior was catching up. Christie attempted to shoot at it, but the alien released a stream of acid from its mouth. Ali's eyes widened as she watched Christie scream in pain as the acid burned his skin. She had never seen an alien shoot acid from its mouth.

Christie lost his grip and started to fall, but Vriess managed to get a grip on the bar. The two of them hung with the Warrior still climbing up toward them. When the alien was within reach, it reached out and grabbed Christie on the ankle. He screamed and shouted and tried to shake off the alien, but the alien's grip was too strong. Johner tried to aide them and shot at the alien from above. After the fifth shot missed the Warrior, the sixth struck home, right in the middle of its forehead. The alien's head exploded with a screech, spraying blood all over the ground but missing Christie and Vriess by inches.

Even though the Warrior was dead, it still had a steel grip on Christie's leg and Vriess couldn't hold on much longer. Knowing the only way to save Vriess, Christie began unbuckling the straps that kept Vriess strapped to his back.

"No, Christie, don't do it!" Vriess shouted as the first buckle came free.

Christie struggled with the second buckle and eventually had to take a knife out to saw through it. Then, he and the dead Warrior fell into the water and disappeared.

Ali heard the sound of locks being released and she, along with everyone else, turned to the door where Wren had vanished. The men pulled out their guns and stared at the door, unsure of what was on the other side. The door opened slowly and everyone gasped, except Ali, as Call was revealed on the other side.

"This way," Call said. When nobody moved she shouted, "Come on!"

Once everyone had filed into the room and left the freight elevator room behind, Call was bombarded with questions as to how she survived.

"Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine," Call insisted.

"You got body armor on?"

"Yeah," Call said, "Come on."

"You took it in the chest; I saw it," Ripley insisted and she stepped forward.

Call didn't protest as Ripley moved a part of her shirt away to reveal the bullet wound. A white, creamy liquid was dripping out slowly.

Ripley gave a little laugh. "You're a robot?"

Ali already knew that, based on the sounds Call's body was making. But everyone else was struck dumb at the revelation that Call was an android.

"Our little Call is just full of surprises," Johner added in.

"I should have know, no human is that humane," Ripley said.

Ali rolled her eyes and tuned out the conversation just as Vriess pointed out, "You're a second gen. aren't you?

Ali looked at her fingernails and began shaping them back to normal. She was vaguely aware of Call and Ripley wandering off trying to find another way to open the doors through the main frame computer. Meanwhile, DiStephano, Johner, and Purvis were busy trying to get the door opened. The strain seemed too much for Purvis because he started coughing and choking. DiStephano and Johner immediately aimed their guns at Purvis' head, ready to shoot of the third stage burst out. But it turned out to be a false alarm, because Purvis managed to calm down.

Just then, Call and Ripley appeared and the group continued on their way. They had to run down the dimly light and fogy hallway. But about halfway, Ripley stopped, crouched down and put her ear to the ground.

"Ripley?" Call asked.

"I can hear them. They're so close." Ripley said.

Ali could hear them too and realized that they were right over the Hive.

"Ripley, come on, we need to keep moving."

"It's the Queen, she's in pain," Ripley said.

When Ali heard that she reached out for Orla. _"Orla, are you alright?"_

Orla didn't answer, but her mind was filled with rolling, white flashing pain. Ali almost fell to her knees as Orla's pain washed over her.

"Ali?" Call asked.

Ripley stood up and looked at Ali. Ali felt Call's hand on her shoulder just as the floor beneath Ripley caved in, sending Ripley into a lower lever. Call left Ali and rushed to the edge of the hole.

"Ripley?" Call shouted. Then her voice changed, "Oh my god."

Ali blocked out the Queen's pain as best she could and stood up. She walked to the hole in the ground and looked down. Beneath the floor was a big, pulsing black mass. There were alien bodies poking out here and there and Ali realized that she was staring at the top of the Hive. Ripley was lying in the middle and was getting sucked into the top. Without thinking, Ali jumped in after her.

"No, Ali!" Call shouted. She attempted to grab Ali as she fell but missed her by inches.


	25. Escape Plan

Ali hit the pulsing mass and felt the aliens shifting around her. She looked up and saw Call staring at her with horror. She smiled as she was sucked into the black mass. For a moment, there was nothing but crushing darkness, then, Ali fell all the way through and managed to land on her feet. Ripley was nowhere to be seen; she must have already been taken to the Hive. Suddenly, two Warriors came out of the wall and stared at Ali. She could sense them taking in her scent and wondering if she was prey. After awhile, they stepped forward and rubbed their heads against Ali's shoulder.

"Take me to Orla," Ali said.

The Warriors nodded and turned down one of the paths, taking a hurried pace. They seemed to be worried about something and Ali wondered if it had anything to do with Orla's pain. Eventually, the wall color lightened and Ali recognized the Queen's chamber. She was on the opposite side from where she had been first brought in and there were bars dividing her from the Hive. Ali heard the sound of a man speaking, his voice echoing around the room. A long piercing screech filled the air and Ali had to clasp her hands to her ears to try and block out the Queen's torment. Unfortunately, Ali could feel the Queen's pain through their mental link, so blocking the sound wasn't going to do her much good. The Warriors screeched and one turned and ran off. The one that remained at Ali's side had a familiar scent. Ali barely registered that it was the one that had released her from hypersleep.

Orla screeched again and Ali noticed a large object in front of her that rose slightly ever time Orla screeched in pain. Ali caught sight of movement and saw Ripley slowly standing up, staring at the Queen.

"She is giving birth for you, Ripley," A man said and Ali saw that one of the captured humans was still alive, "And now, she is perfect!"

Ali couldn't see what was so perfect in what was happening to Orla. The Queen gave another screech and a head appeared in the object. With each new screech, the creature came out further and further. Finally, after being completely exposed, Ali got to get a good look at it. It was off-white in color, taller than most Warriors, it lacked a tail and had eyes and a nose. Ali turned her gaze away from the ugly creature in disgust.

_Ali, look at my baby!_ Orla said. She was issuing low sounds of pride and happiness as the newborn alien walked up to her.

The Newborn sniffed Orla curiously.

"_Orla?"_ Ali asked. She had no idea how the Queen could love a creature like this; but then again, she had jut giving live birth to it. Humans shared a similar connection to their young with they give live birth.

_Look at him. He is wonderful._ Orla said.

Suddenly, the Newborn hissed angrily and struck at the Queen, tearing her head apart. Green acidic blood splashed around as Orla's body shook. She was already dead, yet her body continued to jerk and twist. The Newborn turned suddenly and made its way toward Ripley. Ripley was standing now, staring at the Newborn with a mixture of fear and approval. The Newborn reached her and stuck its long, thin tongue out and licked her. Ali shook her head; this was all wrong. Ripley had messed up Ali's plans again.

"Oh, look, it thinks you're its mommy!" the man trapped in the cocoon said. The Newborn turned to the man and walked toward him. Ripley used the opportunity the Newborn was distracted to escape up a ladder. The Newborn turned in fury and attempted to climb up after Ripley. But its body was too bulky to go up the ladder.

Ali backed away slowly, trying to keep silent. But the Newborn turned on her suddenly, as if it felt her move. It roared and charged, taking three steps to get to the opposite side of the Hive where Ali was. Ali backed away quickly as the Newborn reached in through the bars, trying to grab Ali. It's eyes flashed with fury when it was unable to get to her.

"Take me to the Betty. And get me there before Ripley," Ali said, turning her attention back to the Warrior at her side.

The Warrior hissed and ran off in the direction they had arrived. Ali moved alongside it, matching its strides perfectly. She didn't question the Warrior as it led her through a series of air-ducts. Soon, Ali saw a small ship waiting in the docks. Ripley was nowhere to be seen.

"Good job," Ali said.

The Warrior hissed happily at Ali's praise. It tilted its head to the side and fixed Ali with a quizzing gaze. Ali smiled and nodded.

"You're supposed to come with me," Ali said.

The Warrior hissed excitedly and followed Ali as she walked to the open hatch. She walked through the cargo hold and looked around. There were not too many places to hide something as big as the Warrior and Ali began to worry. She wasn't going to leave it back on the ship; that was out of the question. But she had to find somewhere where it could hide. She tilted her head back in exasperation and noticed a small deck near the roof of the ship.

"Up there," Ali said, pointing to the platform.

The Warrior hissed and jumped forward, digging its claws into the metal. It scaled the wall in a matter of seconds and was up in the platform, looking down at Ali. Ali looked back at the hallway of the ship and could see a figure in the mist, running toward the Betty. She quickly followed the Warrior up, taking only a few seconds longer to get to the top. Just as she flipped over the rail and landed on the platform, she heard Ripley hitting the floor of the Betty. Ali peeked over the edge and saw Ripley shut the door and walk through the cargo hold.

Suddenly, the door stopped about two feet from closing and sat there, open. A pink, fleshy hand appeared and the Newborn forced itself through the small opening. The Warrior at Ali's side hissed and Ali had to grab it around the middle to keep it from jumping down and attacking the Newborn. The Newborn walked off away from the door just as Call appeared and walked to the door. She attempted to close it with the controls, but eventually had to close it manually.

"Call, hurry up. We need to go," Ripley's voice came over an intercom.

Suddenly, the Newborn appeared behind Call and roared. Call spun around and the Newborn shut the door behind her.

"Hold on to something Call," Ripley's voice came again.

Ali took the advice and gripped the bars of the platform and crouched down. The Warrior crouched over Ali to provide extra protection as the Betty pulled free of the ship and shot out into space. The ride was bumpy and Ali felt the Warrior press down on top of her, holding her down.

She peeked over the side and watched as Call ran away from the Newborn and ducked underneath a piece of equipment. The Newborn screeched and attempted to reach underneath to get to Call. A door banged open and DiStephano stepped in carrying a gun. He started shaking as the Newborn abandoned Call and walked toward him. When the Newborn was within inches of DiStephano, it shrieked in anger and grabbed DiStephano's head, crushing it with ease. Ali's widened with surprise, she would have thought the Newborn would have wanted to play with DiStephano before killing him; that was the whole sport in the hunt. The Newborn had returned to Call just as a horribly familiar scent reached Ali's nose.

Ali turned to the door and saw Ripley appearing in the door way. She had a look of fury on her face as the Newborn reached Call. The Warrior at Ali's side hissed in fury when it sensed Ripley and launched forward again. Ali was just barely able to get her arms around the Warrior as Ripley stepped further into the room.

"Please try to control yourself," Ali said, "We have to remain hidden until we get off the ship."

The Warrior hissed in displeasure but stopped struggling and crouched down. Ali turned her attention back to the Newborn as it walked up to Ripley, issuing low whines of happiness. Ripley reached out for the Newborn and it stepped into her embrace. Ali was confused, the rhythm of Ripley's heartbeats and her movements didn't add up to her action. From what Ali could hear, she wanted to get rid of the Newborn, not love and cuddle it.

Just then, Ripley flicked her hand at a small window. Blood splattered the window and began sizzling through. Ali understood at that moment what Ripley had been planning all along; she had to get the Newborn near her so that it would get sucked out the window into space. There was a loud noise as a small hole appeared in the window and began sucking out into the black space. The Warrior twisted in front of Ali and crouched over her, protecting her from the pull. She couldn't see what was going on, but she heard the Newborn screeching in pain. She squeezed her eyes tightly as a sickening, tearing sound split the air as the Newborn was forced out of the tiny hole made by Ripley's blood. Then, it was silent except for the roaring wind.

About two seconds went by before there was a giant explosion from outside the Betty. The Betty was hit by the thermals of the explosion and jostled around. The Warrior pressed against Ali, but it didn't stop her teeth from chattering. Finally, the Betty entered Earth's atmosphere and the jolting stopped. The Warrior stepped away from Ali and hissed its concern.

"I'm fine," Ali said and she patted the alien on the head, "We made it!" The Warrior hissed and nuzzled Ali's shoulder.

Below them, Ripley and Call seemed to be thinking the same thing. They were standing by the window as the world of earth came into view. Despite the situation, Ali was quite curious to see what Earth looked like; she has never seen it before, having spent her whole live on LV-426. But she didn't want to be seen by Ripley and Call yet.

Once Ripley and Call had left, Ali and the Warrior jumped down. The Warrior was eager to leave and make its presence known, but Ali paused for a moment.

"I know I promised myself I wouldn't name one of you ever again, to prevent myself from getting hurt again, but I can't help myself. Your name will be Emery."

Emery nodded his head in an agreement. He was now eagerly awaiting the chance to reveal himself and Ali didn't want to prolong it anymore either.

"Okay, this is the plan."

**A/N: Emery translates roughly to "hard black substance"**

**~Ali Wenstern  
**

* * *


	26. The Promise of Revenge

Ali stepped out of the Betty to see Ripley, Call, Johner, and Vriess grouped a short distance away from the ship. She smiled and called out to them.

Call's head shot up first. Ali walked swiftly up to the group as Call asked, "How did you survive?"

"They don't attack me," Ali answered.

"Why not?" Ripley asked.

"You should know," Ali prodded. She wanted Ripley to remember her without help.

"What?"

"Our pasts had been intertwined for quite a while," Ali said, "Before you were cloned."

"I don't know—," Ripley suddenly stopped.

Ali smiled as Ripley's eyes narrowed as she stared at Ali, then slowly widened as a long distant memory came back into focus.

"Do you remember now?" Ali asked.

"Yes. I know who you are. You're Ali, from the terraforming colony," Ripley said.

"What are you talking about?" Call asked.

"Remember about the little girl I was telling you about? How I could remember how she died, but not her name?" Ripley asked.

"Newt," Ali said.

Ripley nodded slowly. "Well, Ali was there with Newt. We thought that she was just another victim so we took her with us. But later on she revealed what she really was, a child with the DNA of the aliens."

"Wait," Call said, "I remember reading about something like that. The report said the child had been exterminated."

"Well the report was wrong," Ali said, "I was trapped in hypersleep thanks to the Bishop fake that had come to get Ripley when she had the Queen inside her. I was in there for two hundred years until Emery found me."

"Emery? You named another one?" Ripley asked.

"Another one? You mean she named one before?" Call asked.

"Ripley killed the first two that I named. I wasn't going to get too close to another one, but Emery saved me twice so I couldn't help myself."

"And where is Emery now?" Ripley asked.

Ali's eyes flashed and a grin broke across her face. "Behind you."

Ripley and Call both spun around but there was nothing there; they weren't Emery's targets. When Ali had Ripley and Call distracted, Emery had been sneaking up behind Johner, who was busy arguing about something with Vriess. When Ali had given the signal, Emery had pounced and landed on Johner's back. Johner yelled as Emery dug his claws deep into Johner's back and held on tightly. Vriess yelled as well and swung at Emery with a large rock. Emery hissed and struck Vriess with his tail, knocking him out. Ripley and Call reacted to the yell and started running to help Johner.

"Oh no you don't," Ali said as she ran after Ripley and Call.

She knew that she wouldn't be able to fight against Ripley, so she went after Call. Call was slower than Ripley and Ali was able to tackle her to the ground. Call cried out as she and Ali rolled across the ground and the noise was enough to get Ripley's attention. She turned away from Emery and a struggling Johner and instead came back to help Call.

Ali pulled Call to her feet, being much stronger than the android, and grabbed Call's throat with her other hand. Ripley stopped in her tracks and glared at Ali.

Ali grinned back. "This is quite a predicament you're in. If you were to come at me, it wouldn't be that hard for me to break little Call's neck."

Ripley stood still, weighing her options. But she didn't realize what was going on with Johner. He was slowly slipping into unconsciousness as Emery continued to dig his claws into Johner's back. Finally, Johner fell down, unconscious.

Ali grinned and pushed Call hard. She fell into Ripley and momentarily distracted them both enough for Ali to run up to Emery. Emery picked Johner up and hissed. Ali took the lead and Emery followed. Ripley was unable to get free of Call in time to chase after them and it was soon too late.

Ali looked back behind her as the Betty and the people in front of it shrank into small dots. She laughed joyfully and Emery hissed next to her.

"I'll come back for you Ripley," Ali said, "Once Emery morphs into a Queen and starts a Hive, I'll come for you."


End file.
